When the Lily Helps the Snake
by BookwormByNight
Summary: When Lily Evans offers to give Severus Snape a makeover in his fourth year, not only does he get a chance to redo his look - but also redo his life. Watch as he slowly heals from his traumas with a little bit of humor, a little bit of drama, and a little bit of love! Marauders Era Makeover!AU
1. Annual

**Chapter 1 - Annual**

 **A/N: Hello there! I got this idea from Ctopher on the forum 'Writing challenges' when I was looking for ideas. It was originally titled 'Snape's Makeover,' but I liked my title a little better. Enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the original idea of the plot.**

 **XXX**

"Snivellus the Slimeball! Snivellus the Slimeball!"

"Peter, I know what you are trying to do, but you really just sound childish."

"Yeah, James is right! Here, I'll do it right; Snivellus, you are a dirty, pathetic, grossly unwashed excuse of Slytherin scum. Go back to the slimy hole you crawled from and leave Evans alone."

"Sirius, you got the point right across! I applaud you. However, I think we can give him a little hair cut, to help him out, yeah?"

"Right you are, Prongs."

As if this situation couldn't get any worse, Severus mused. Bullied on his way to lunch. Couldn't he ever catch a break?

Potter came closer to the stiff boy, who was still struggling to stand after being hit with a leg-locker curse. A wand touched Severus' head, and at that moment he knew his reputation, or what little was left, was about to be blown to smithereens as the entire student body looked on and laughed after a trying day of exams. Bullying him was Potter's little gang's favorite annual activity after an exam, as if it needed to be called annual. They still did it every day, just not with the entire school watching.

Severus closed his eyes, preparing to soon be almost bald, or something cruel like that.

"Diff-"

"Stop!"

Severus looked up, greasy black hair in his eyes. Lily? Lily! Thank merlin, she had saved him again! Of course, it was a blow to his Slytherin reputation for him to be saved by a girl, a mudblood no less, but at that moment he couldn't bring himself to care.

Unfortunately, Potter had noticed it was Lily too.

"Evans? Come to join the party, eh? Couldn't resist being away from your future husband for too long?" he said with a big, cocky, stupid grin on his face.

Her face went red, and she scowled at him. "Of course not, you arrogant toerag!" she moved towards Severus, and took the leg-locker curse off him, "Let's go, Sev."

Severus got up numbly. Lily grabbed his hand, and went over to Lupin. "And we'll be taking _this_ back, thank you very much! Remus, I'm ashamed for you. I thought you knew better!"

Once they got out of the courtyard, and out of the public eye, Severus gave Lily the biggest hug he ever had, and tears started coming to his eyes. She stood there and comforted him as he sobbed.

"I-I'm so….rry, Lily," Severus said as he backed away from her, even more ashamed of himself. She just smiled in a comforting way, and held out something.

"My wand! Thank you so much, is that what you were grabbing from Lupin?"

Lily nodded. That made Severus beam.

Together, the two friends headed over to the other side of Hogwarts, away from the lake where everyone else was. They decided to stop near Hagrid's hut, under a tree.

"Thinking back, I'm sorry, Sev, but why do you never cut your hair, or wash yourself, for that matter? It's like you have no concept of hygiene at all," Lily said with her brows furrowed, "You know, if you started taking better care of yourself, those idiots wouldn't have as much to pick on."

Severus shrank into himself in embarrassment. Quietly, he whispered, "I don't… I don't know how…"

"What? I couldn't hear you."

"I.. Don't know…. I don't know how…"

Lily's eyes widened. "You poor thing! Why not?"

Severus directed his coal eyes directly into Lily's beautiful green ones. "This is the deepest secret I have, you have to promise not to tell anyone!"

Just as serious, she stared back. "Alright, I promise."

Severus looked around, and, for good measure, casts "Muffliato!" so no one will be able to listen in.

"My.. parents.." he took a deep, shuddering breath, "My parents aren't the type to… do that… As in, well, at home… I was being either…. abused… or ignored…"

Lily hugged him as soon as he finished saying that. Severus' eyes widen in surprise, before he returned it.

"It's okay, though. I learned a lot of stuff anyways, I just didn't…" Severus trailed off.

The two friends sit there for hours, silently comforting each other before the feast.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: So… Yep! That's it! Hope you enjoyed it, and don't forget to review! If you would like, check my profile bio for the day of the week I'm updating, along with any announcements, or you could follow this fanfic.**


	2. Train Ride

**Chapter 2 - Train Ride**

 **A/N: Oh my goodness, there were so many people who either reviewed, alerted, or favorited! It gave me all the warm fuzzies, thank you so much! As thanks, I decided to update another chapter early. Enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: Nothing about Harry Potter is even remotely owned by me.**

 **XXX**

All of Hogwarts' students quickly piled onto the train.

Another school year had ended, and Severus honestly couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He walked behind Lily as they attempted to find a train compartment. The slamming of so many compartment doors blew Lily's dark red hair all over his greasy face, and he felt a little bad. Now her hair would have to be washed. Lily didn't seem to mind, though.

They finally found an empty compartment, and set their trunks inside. Severus may not have had a pet, but Lily did, which she let loose right away. The little white cat instantly curled up on Severus' lap.

"She really seems to like you."

"She always has, although I haven't the slightest clue why."

"I'll bet Angel can sense how good of a person you are, Sev. You have a lot of potential in many aspects, too."

Severus glowed at her praise, but he doubted her words. He wasn't that talented in anything, and he didn't even have a nice face to be excused from that. He wasn't even like Pettigrew, that got through things easily without brains, talents, or looks, because he was sorted into the 'golden' house, and made friends with important people. Pettigrew was really the snake, but Severus was a worm.

"Speaking of potential," Lily started speaking to get Severus' attention. It worked.

"I'm sorry, what? What potential?"

Lily laughed at Severus' confused face. He was so adorkable sometimes. "Speaking of potential, I found some specifically in you."

"What? No you didn't, I don't have any, Lily."

Placing a hand on his, she reprimanded him. "Of course you do! I see it! Sev, this is your lucky summer. I'm going to make you hotter than you ever were before! In fact, when I'm through with you, you're going to look better than Potter!"

Severus simply sighed. He knew he was never going to able to talk her out of this, he had firsthand experience trying. Once Lily got swept up in her whirlwind of plans and fantasies, she wasn't coming down until she realised how stupid it was, and her fire burned out.

"Alright, you can try. It won't work, though."

"Pfft, of course it will! Come on, Sev!"

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know! Somewhere that we can get some help with this!"

With that, Lily grabbed his hand, and they ran off.

Off to…

"This is a great plan, Lily, just brilliant," Severus said as sarcastically as he could.

"Oh, stop being such a wet blanket! I'll figure something out! We're going somewhere!" she shot back at him.

"Listen, why don't we just go back to the compartment," Severus tried to reason with Lily, "and plan this stuff there? We definitely won't run into Potter's little gang if we do that."

Lily pondered this for a minute. Finally, she nodded, and they went back.

"Okay, so my plan is-" Lily started, but was interrupted by the arrival of the candy witch.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Lily nodded, handed her some galleons, and grabbed a couple of sweets. She held some cauldron cakes out to Severus. "Want some?"

"Sure, thanks," he replied as he grabbed one. She smiled at him.

"Where did you get the money, anyways?" Severus asked through a mouthful of cake and chocolate, "I was under the impression you were muggleborn."

"Mum took me to Gringotts to get my muggle money exchanged."

Severus nodded in reply, having reached into the candy pile and stuffed his mouth full. He wanted to enjoy as much as he possibly could of the stuff before he goes back to his father. In the end, though, him trying to look dignified with stuffed chipmunk cheeks made Lily just burst into laughter. Once he swallowed, Severus felt laughter bubble up when he realised how ridiculous he looked.

Just then the compartment door slid open, to reveal Potter and his gang.

"Is my Lily laughing at Snivellus?" Potter started in an arrogant tone, "We have hope, guys! Lily, ditch this loser and come with us!"

"Yeah, Evans!"

Lily glared at them. Her face went red, and Severus could swear he saw steam coming out of her ears.

"Get out."

"Ooh, Evans being angry! We're so scared!" Black said tauntingly.

All four boys were later found outside an empty compartment with leeks growing out of their ears and tentacles instead of limbs.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: Remember to review!**


	3. Father

**Chapter 3 - Father**

 **A/N: Snape gets a surprise! Just a warning; includes abusive father, but we don't go into it much.. Now go read!**

 **TO THE GUEST WHO REVIEWED ON JULY 8; I believe that getting out of bullying would be a larger motivation to get in than fear to stay out, assuming you meant what I think you did. Snape is often bullied for being greasy and gross, so I think he would regularly to change that, to no avail due to his lack of knowledge on the topic. Also, being clean might make his father pleased, so that would also provide motivation, even if his father couldn't know where Snape got the cleaning supplies.**

 **DISCLAIMER: All of the Harry Potter stuff is owned by none other than…. Joanne Rowling! Not me.**

 **XXX**

The Hogwarts Express came to a full stop at Platform 9¾. As it did so, Severus began to feel the familiar little feeling of dread. He had known he was going back, but now it was happening. He hated Spinner's End, and he despised his father, and he still had to go back.

Lily grabbed his hand, beaming. She was so lucky, having a family that loved her, or most of it, at least. He knew about Petunia's hatred for her sister. But still, she had two loving parents and she was friends with the neighbors, and she would be having a grand time while he was stuck rotting in his father's rundown old shack.

They both stepped off the train together, dragging their trunks behind them. Lily spotted her family, and turned towards them.

"Er, Lily, you forgot to let go. I need to find my dad."

Severus only called him that when he was in a public area, because he was his father and nothing else.

"No you don't. I have a surprise for you!"

"Uh, what?"

"Come with me!"

Severus followed hesitantly, and Lily led him to her parents.

"Lily…?"

Lily turned around, and, if it was even possible, her smile got bigger and brighter. "I owled Mum and Dad about staying with us this summer! They got back almost immediately. You're staying with me!"

This statement made Severus smile wider than he ever remembered. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Lily hugged him. Severus hugged back, even tighter, until Mr. Evans interrupted them.

"We have to find your parents, though, and tell them where you will be staying-"

"They won't care," Severus muttered.

"-That you will be safe-"

"That will just depress them," Severus quietly interrupted again.

"-And that we can cover all your expenses."

"That, they can handle," Severus again said only so Lily can hear, before he spoke in a normal tone, "I'm sure this will all be fine. I will tell them."

"Why don't we come with you? I'm sure your parents would like to know who you are staying with," Mrs. Evans suggested.

Lily piped up, "It's fine, Mum. I'll go with him!"

"Alright, come back quickly."

At their answer, the duo rushed off to find Mr. Snape.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. I heard your mutters, he sounds awful. I wouldn't want my best friend's parents meeting my father either, if he was like yours."

Severus led Lily to an alleyway, where a grumpy old man was waiting. When he spotted his son, he instantly advanced towards him and yelled, "WHERE WERE YOU? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG I WAS WAITING?"

"S-sorry, Father."

"NOT GOOD ENOUGH! WE'RE GOING HOME, NOW," Mr. Snape continued, spit flying. He violently reached out to Severus, but the younger Snape dodged quickly and stepped in front of Lily protectively.

"No, I'm going to the Evans'..." Severus said meekly, but he still tried to put on a brave face.

"HMPH! ABANDONING YOUR POOR OLD FATHER? FINE! DON'T COME BACK!" and with that awful goodbye, he turned and left.

Lily turned to Severus with wide, tearfilled eyes. "That's what you had to put up with your whole life? Oh, Sev, I'm so sorry."

Severus lets out a shaky breath. "It's fine, I'm fine. I'm just glad it went better than expected."

"It normally goes worse?!" Lily shrieked.

"Uh, no! It's fine. Let's go back to your parents now," Severus tried to cover up his mistake.

Slowly, Lily nodded.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: Please review! Also, I have an announcement I would like you to read on my bio. It's under "Announcements," and I'm alerting all my readers. It affects all of my fanfics.**


	4. Shower

**Chapter 4 - Shower**

 **A/N: This chapter was so awkward to write… Snape takes a proper shower for the first time. I imagine he's taken showers before, but he didn't know how to use shampoo properly. Anyways, time to read the awkwardness…**

 **DISCLAIMER: True; Harry Potter is an amazing book series. False; I own Harry Potter. I don't own Harry Potter!**

 **XXX**

The Evans had become Severus' family in the two days he had stayed at their house. They treated him like a son, asked him to call them by their first names, Eric and Abrianna respectively, and were, overall, kind. Severus was sure he would look back on this summer as the happiest days of his life.

Lily still hadn't done anything on her plan, which made Severus both relieved and apprehensive.

Everyone got up early, except for Petunia, every day. That morning was no exception. Severus got up from the guest bedroom, dressed in the (still) oversized frocks his mother had given him as clothing, since his father always refused to give up anything, clothing or money for it.

He went downstairs to help Mrs. Evans with the cooking, even though he wasn't very good at it. It wasn't that different from potion brewing, so he was picking up on it quickly.

"Good morning, Sev!"

His face split into a grin at the sound of that voice. "Morning, Lily."

"I have something else we can do today!"

"Oh really? What is it?"

"Starting your makeover."

Severus knew it was probably coming soon, but he was still surprised. He had hoped Lily had forgotten that stupid idea. "Erm, okay…"

Lily beamed brighter. "Great!" and with a swish of her long hair, she had left the hallway.

Severus shook his head. He would never understand her optimism, but he would accept it. It simply wouldn't do to break something so pure and good in the world. He continued walking down the stairs, tripped over that stupid cat, and entered the kitchen.

Once breakfast was over, Lily dragged him upstairs to the bathroom.

"These," she stated, pointing at a washcloth and some soap in the shower, "are the tools you need. I won't watch, but, basically, you get your body wet under the water, rub some soap onto the washcloth, and scrub your body until it looks and feels clean."

"Er, alright," he didn't want to argue with her, even though he knows how to use soap. The main problem was getting his hands on it.

"And this," Lily grabbed a bottle of something, "is my father's shampoo. Take about, err, a sickle sized bit, for you, on your hand, rub your hands together, and rub it on your scalp until it isn't greasy anymore."

"Okay," he replies, signaling he understood. He wanted to listen extra hard here, because _this_ was where the problem originated. Severus could feel the blush rise in his cheeks, but he wanted to memorize what she was saying. The state of his hair was horrible, oily and stringy, and halfway to his waist. He wanted to fix it, if Lily was really going to try this crazy plan of her's.

"And don't forget to wash all the soap and shampoo off of your body before you get out!"

Severus' face was, now, bright red. Lily's was getting there. Severus couldn't wait for this conversation to be over, but he also didn't want to mess anything up, so he listened and memorized as much as he could. This time, he just nodded his head. He didn't trust his voice over the awkwardness of this conversation.

"Alright! I think we're done! You know how showers work, so I'll just leave now…" Lily rushed out of the bathroom with her face burning.

With a deep breath, Severus turned on the water.

When he got out, he dried off, dressed, and came downstairs. Everyone stared at him, and he started to shrink away, worried he did something wrong, until Lily came into the room and smiled.

"Wow, Sev! You're halfway there!"

Just like that, Severus burst into a grin. "Thanks."

Mrs. Evans smiled too. "Yes, you look much better."

"Thank you, Mrs. Ev- I mean, Abrianna."

Mr. Evans smiled and nodded at him.

"Sev, you have to do this every day, or at least, every other day. Do it very often, to put it bluntly," Lily instructs.

Severus nods.

"Okay. We're doing more tomorrow!"

"Uhh…"

 **XXX**

 **A/N: This. Was. So. Awkward. I died a little inside. Hope you enjoyed it! Please review.**


	5. Haircut

**Chapter 5 - Haircut**

 **A/N: Wow… I am blown away from all the positive reviews I've gotten. Thirteen in one chapter! Thank you so much, guys! Anyways, Severus gets a haircut, and then they go to Diagon Alley. Enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: Any previous belief of my ownership of Harry Potter will now be destroyed; I don't own Harry Potter!**

 **XXX**

"Lily, I don't know about this…"

"Don't doubt my mum! It will be fine!"

"But going to her hair salon? I'm a male…"

"I'm sure it will be fine, Severus. Don't worry!"

"Lily…"

That was the argument he had lost about three hours ago, before they arrived. Since then, Severus had gotten his hair cut into a nice, layered, shorter style, just down to his neck. It looked more like Black's hair, but Severus was okay with that. Whatever it ended up looking like, everyone had agreed it looked great on him.

At the moment, he was looking at products to use with Mr. Evans and Lily, since the hairdresser had recommended some stronger shampoo to get rid of the extra oils his body produced. They had started out at some muggle shop and had gotten some things Severus didn't recognize, but Mr. Evans had assured they were important.

Eventually, they ended up outside the Leaky Cauldron by accident, which is where the still were.

"Come on, Dad, I know shops in there we can totally go to for Severus!" Lily said, which was the same reason that she had been telling her father for the past five minutes.

"Sweetheart, I know you just want to go Florean Fortescue's. You can't pull the wool over your old man's eyes," he argued.

"Sir- I mean, Mr. E- I mean, Eric… It's worth a shot, isn't it? We might as well check out the shops, and we don't have to go to Florean's," Severus counter-attacked.

"No, Severus, because my dear daughter would be asking for ice cream the moment we got near it."

"Come on, Dad! Please? For Severus? I won't ask!"

Mr. Evans sighed. "Oh, alright. No ice cream, though! It's bad for you."

Lily jumped in victory, shouted an "Of course, Dad!" and ran into the Leaky Cauldron.

Shaking his head, he turned to Severus, who was very amused at his friend's antics. "She's going to ask me for cauldron cakes, isn't she?"

"Most likely," Severus agreed. Cauldron cakes were Lily's favorite.

"She's a tricky one, that little imp. Very clever," Mr. Evans stated, before asking, "You wouldn't mind, if you helped me get through the Leaky Cauldron, would you? As a non-wizard, I tend to have trouble discerning the entrance."

"Of course not."

Severus leading Mr. Evans, they found Lily standing by a rubbish bin in the back with a large grin on her face and a mischievous look in her almond-shaped eyes.

"Who's tapping the brick?"

"You can, if you want, Sev," Lily replied.

Severus rolled up his sleeves and took out his wand. "Alright."

After tapping the brick that was two up, and thee to the left from the rubbish bin closest to the wall, the trio entered Diagon Alley, which was as packed as a snowball. Fighting their way through the crowd of stampeding wizards and witches, they made their slow journey towards the beauty shop.

"Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions? Lily…"

"Don't even start, Sev. You lost the hair salon argument, you're going to lose this one."

Lily's statement made Severus shut up almost right away. He was, inevitably, going to lose anyways, as Lily had pointed out. He didn't want to fight with his best (and only _real_ ) friend if there was no point.

Severus grudgingly entered the shop behind Lily, Mr. Evans right behind him. Lily made quick work of finding the sections they need, and they began to look around.

"Ooh! This one can clear your acne away, Sev! And this one can be put on your new soap to cleanse your skin further! And these…"

Severus tuned out Lily while she excitedly looked through potions, because she knew what he needed, while he didn't. He figured it would be best to leave this up to the people who actually have had previous experience with this sort of topic, instead of smuggling bits of his father's soap off of the bar so he could use it.

"...And this one you can drink after you clean your teeth! I guess it's a sort of whitening mouthwash… And this one…"

 **XXX**

 **A/N: Don't forget to review! Also, I have an announcement on my profile, if you would like to check it out.**


	6. Picnic

**Chapter 6 - Picnic**

 **A/N: This chapter is shorter than usual, I apologize. I'm not good at making my chapters long… Anyways, go read!**

 **DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter? Don't own it.**

 **XXX**

It had been a week since Lily had last mentioned the "Project; Snapeover" as she had dubbed it. Severus continued to use all the products they had bought, muggle and magical, and he had to admit he looked much better.

The weather was nice, so the family, along with Severus, had gone to the park to have a picnic. Petunia was grumbling about how she could have gone out with her friends, Mr. and Mrs. Evans were setting up, and Lily had led Severus over to the small creek by the swing set for the children that came.

Both were comfortably sitting in silence, watching the water, when Lily looked over at Severus curiously.

"Sev?"

"Yeah?"

"How much did you get fed with your parents? I mean, how much did they feed you?"

Severus jumped at the question, he was not prepared for that. "Er, why?"

"I was wondering if you were malnourished," Lily explains, "You're a lot smaller than the other boys."

"What if I'm just smaller than most, Lily?" Severus said, defensively.

"I was only curious."

Severus looked around, checking for anyone in earshot. "Er, no… they didn't feed me much," he muttered, ashamed.

Lily smiled sympathetically. "It's alright, Sev. We'll just have to fix that. I promised I would make you hotter than Potter, not just better looking. Speaking of, we need to fix your posture."

Severus looked back at her with his brows furrowed. He opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted before he could speak.

"It's time to eat, freaks," Petunia stated with a scowl on her face. Lily turned around with a nonchalant smile on her face.

"Thank you, Tuney."

Petunia stalked off, and Lily's eyes filled with tears, watching her boney sister's retreating back. Severus gave her a hug, and stood up.

"Come on, let's go eat."

Lily nodded. Together, they walked over as two fifteen year olds against the world.

"I hope there's strawberries."

"There probably is, Lily. There is definitely pie, though. I helped make it."

"I bet it tastes delicious, Sev."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"Is it just me, or are we just getting more awkward?"

"It's not just you, Snape," Petunia finally interjected, "Why don't you both just shut it and eat already? You're making yourself seem more freakish than you already are."

"Thanks, Petunia. You seem more boring and sad than ever," Severus cheerfully replied.

"Sev! Be kind!" Lily reprimanded, but Severus felt no remorse. Petunia had done much worse to her sister. Severus had practically done nothing.

"I apologize, that was out of line," Severus said to Petunia, but every inch of that statement was dripping in poison. No one else picked up on it, thankfully.

"Not a problem," Petunia said back, marinated in just as much venom.

"I'm so glad you two can make up! Let's eat now. Pie?" Mrs. Evans interjected before it got out of hand.

Muggle, wizard, and witch all agreed, and they dug in.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: Did you guys know that venom and poison actually are different things? It's weird, but technically, venom is secreted by animals, and poison comes from plants. I don't know why there is a difference, but here we are! Anyways, review, check my bio, maybe alert or favorite, I'll stop rambling now.**


	7. Morning Jog

**Chapter 7 - Morning Jog**

 **A/N: Guys… I'm sorry. I know I haven't posted in forever, but I haven't had the time to. This chapter is intended to show the 'Humor' genre of this fanfic, so I hope you enjoy, and have a good laugh!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter. I do, however, own the events of this chapter.**

 **XXX**

Lily had gone and gotten Severus nourishing supplements to make up for the times he had nothing. While he appreciated it, he doubted it would work. He was small, and muggle items just didn't help that. Nevertheless, he continued to take it.

She had also brought out an encyclopedia, and forced Severus to walk around the room with it balanced on the top of his head every day. It was like a very heavy hat, and it often fell off. Whenever it did, she made him start over.

His favorite thing by far was the exercise classes she had gotten him into, which she would do with him. He worked harder there because of her motivation, she was very supportive, and, somehow, always burned out before him. Severus honestly had no idea what he had done to deserve her friendship.

The stubborn girl took the position as light of his life, and had since they were nine. He adored her.

The adoration must have shown on his face as they took a morning jog (recommended as training by one of the fitness instructors), because one of the Evans' neighbors came up to them and said, "And how long have you two been together? Lily, good job! He looks like quite a catch!"

Both teens promptly turned very red. "We aren't….. dating, Mrs. Hofferson. We're friends," Lily tried to explain to the elderly lady, but she wouldn't hear a word. Severus got the feeling that this old lady, with laugh lines adorning her face and crinkled, smiling eyes, was very pushy when it came to some things.

"Nonsense! I've known you since you were _very_ little, and I always knew you would reel in a handsome young man such as this one! What's your name, deary, I want to know who my Lily's future husband is!"

This made the pair become even redder, and Severus spluttered, "Future husb- _future husband?_ "

"No, Mrs. Hofferson, we're simply friends! I'm not dating anyone!"

"Come on, you two! I need a picture of the young couple!"

Between the three of them, they made quite a scene. Neighbors started coming out of their houses and poking their heads out of windows to see what all the commotion was about, which made Severus look like his head was on fire, while Lily kept stuttering, trying to explain. They could hear giggles from some of the neighbors, and that made the situation all the more embarrassing.

"Mrs. Hofferson! We are not a couple! Please!" Lily said in a desperate tone.

"Stop denying it! I could see the love! It was overwhelming!"

"NOTHING TO SEE HERE, FOLKS!" Severus shouted to the street in a desperate attempt to draw the attention away. It did the opposite, and some people from different streets peeked over their garden fences to see the scene at the end of Brookdon Road.

Eventually, Lily grabbed Severus' hand, and they fled, faces burning, stitches in their sides, sprinting to Spinner's End for a chance of solitude.

Severus led Lily to his house, or, rather, the Snape house. Instead of going in it, they hid behind it, but it served its purpose anyways. A hiding place. After they settled down in the Snape's rundown, overgrown backyard, they started laughing. They laughed and giggled about the whole affair until they couldn't breathe.

"That was ridiculous," Severus wheezed, before laughter bubbled from his throat again.

"Yes, it was. I can't believe Mrs. Hofferson," Lily tried to blame, but her anger was smothered by another fit of giggles.

And so the laughing continued.

"We…. need… to continue…. our.. run," Lily said.

"True," Severus replied as he regained composure, "and we also need to get out of here before my father comes out. I'm sure he heard us."

Lily nodded and stood up. Severus quickly did the same, and they continued their run on opposite sides of the street.

The rest of their jog was uneventful, but the Evans did tease the two about that morning when they got back. Even Petunia smiled.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: Aww, Petunia is warming up! Anyways, hope you laughed, (I did, and I'm the one who wrote it; does that make me shallow?) and remember to review! Constructive criticism is always welcome!**


	8. September First

**Chapter 8 - September First**

 **A/N: Again… I've gotten horrible at updating. I'm sorry! Anyways, today's the day they go back to Hogwarts!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own things! Like this computer! Not Harry Potter, though.**

 **XXX**

"Darling, make sure you have everything. We don't have owls to send it to you if you forget."

"I know, Mum. You give me the same speech every year, and I've never forgotten anything."

"I know, but I still worry."

Lily nodded to her mother, and quickly ran up the stairs of her house to the guest room, although they might have just called it Severus' room. It was basically that, anyways. It was September first, and the two magicals in the house were preparing for Hogwarts.

"Sev? You ready to go?"

"Mostly, Lily," Severus replied, throwing last minute books in there. "Do I need to bring all the stuff you made me use? The conditioner too? I'm running out of book space."

"Yes, you do. There's an entire library there, full of books! There isn't a place we can get this 'stuff I made you use,'" Lily exasperatedly answered.

A slam was heard, and Severus stood up, shaking his head to move his hair out of his eyes. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Good."

They headed downstairs, loaded everything into the vehicle (Angel was not pleased to go into the cat carrier) and began their journey to King's Cross.

"Hurry up, hurry up, we're going to be late!" Lily frantically spoke to her mother.

"We're going as fast as we can, darling. We just have to pray," Mrs. Evans attempted to console her daughter, although it wasn't working much. Severus rubbed Lily's arm in another attempt at calming the frantic witch down.

They got to the station five minutes before the train was supposed to take off. They hurriedly put their trunks and Angel's carrier on luggage trolleys and said their goodbyes to the Evans.

Lily hugged her parents. "Bye Mum! I'll miss you loads. Bye Dad!"

"How come you won't miss me loads?" her offended father asked.

"Oh yeah! I'll miss you too! Bye, Tuney."

"I'm sensing favoritism."

Then it was Severus' turn to say goodbye. He simply waved, said goodbye to the family as a whole, and turned to walk away with Lily.

He was stopped when Mrs. Evans pulled him into a hug. "Don't you think you're getting away without a hug from old Mrs. Evans! Goodbye, Severus."

"I thought you wanted to be called 'Abrianna?'"

"Details. Bye, sweetheart!"

"Bye. Goodbye, Eric."

Mr. Evans simply hugged him in reply.

Lily glanced up at the clock and gasped. "It's ten-fifty-eight! Sev, we have to go!"

The two turned around and rushed through the barrier, hearts beating painfully in their chests. A few stragglers were still going on the train, but most of them had already boarded. "Come on, come on!" Lily mutters, panicked.

They unload the luggage trolleys in record time and dash onto the Hogwarts Express, panting.

"We… ma-de it. We… _made_ … it!" Severus wheezed. Lily nodded happily.

"Come on, let's find a compartment," Lily said after regaining breath, "all the good ones will already be taken, but we need to find something. We can't stay in the hall the whole ride."

Severus nodded to her words, and grabbed Angel's cat carrier and his trunk.

"Oi! Evans!" a shout rang through the hall of the train car.

Not daring to turn around, Lily scoffed. "Ugh, Potter. What do you want?"

 **XXX**

 **A/N: Ooh, a cliffie! You like? Haha… Please review!**


	9. Unrecognizable

**Chapter 9 - Unrecognizable**

 **A/N: That's right, baby, we're back! This chapter picks right up from where the cliffie had left off, and I'd suggest you go back and read it to see how we got to this point. Now enjoy that chapter!**

 **DISCLAIMER: If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction, would I? I don't own Harry Potter.**

 **XXX**

"Ugh, Potter. What do you want?"

With an arrogant grin, Potter replied "You," causing both Lily and Severus to gag in disgust.

"In your dreams, Potter," Lily spoke angrily.

Potter's smile got even bigger on his smug face. "What happens when dreams become reality? That happened to me the moment I met you."

Black clapped his best friend on the back for the pickup line, even though it just made Lily angrier.

"Lily, who's your friend?" Lupin asked, as his friends were still congratulating each other on the fact that Lily hadn't hexed them yet.

Potter heard this question and looked over at the guy accompanying Lily, expecting a greasy, disheveled mess of a teen. When he caught sight of the new Severus, his eyes bugged out of his head, and his ears turned red with jealousy. Black grabbed his arm, and Lupin gave him a look that told him to calm down. Pettigrew, being as naive as he was, didn't understand what all the commotion was about.

"He's the best person I've ever known, and he's my friend," Lily replied before Severus could. Clearly, none of Potter's little gang recognized him, and both of the inter-house pair knew it. She looked at him with a face that said 'Let's surprise them,' and Severus grinned in understanding. Not from the complement she gave him. Of course not.

Lily smirked at his grin, attached herself to Severus' newly muscled arm for effect, and turned back to the group of boys. "If you wouldn't mind, I'm going to find a compartment with my _handsome_ ," she stressed the word to make the difference greater when they found out, "friend."

Potter ears, if possible, turned a shade redder, and lasers were glaring from his hazel eyes at the amused Severus.

"Mate, would you like to come to our compartment? We have exploding snap, and we welcome new exchange students, even if there wasn't one ever during our years. Besides, we can't let the slimy Slytherins find you two!"

Everyone gaped at Black, who had let go of Potter and outstretched his arm in welcome. James hissed in Black's ear angrily for the suggestion. Severus decided to look at Lily on whether he should agree or not. She nodded.

"Er, alright, I'll go with you. Lily, come with me?" Severus decided to answer.

Lily shook her head. "Sorry, but I have to visit the prefect compartment. I'll find you as soon as possible. See you!" Her garnet hair swished as she walked away. Severus turned back to the group, and noticed the shiny, red-and-gold prefect's badge over Lupin's breast pocket.

"You appear to be a prefect too, why aren't you going with Lily?"

The entire group looked at him as if he had said something absurdly funny. "I would never," Lupin chuckled, "I always ride the train with the other marauders, why would that change?"

Severus raised one jet-black eyebrow. "Is that what you call your group?"

Potter answered a "Yes," and Severus gleefully noted that the boy was clenching his fists, although it didn't help his nerves much.

"Shall we find a compartment then?"

"Yes," Potter replied again, still clenching his fists very tightly. Severus wondered if they would get damaged if he continued doing so, but then found that he wouldn't particularly care. The only thing that would worry him was if Potter hurt him because of Lily's sudden plan. He hoped she would find them soon.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: So sorry I hadn't updated in so long, but at least it's back! Now that you've read this, I have a couple announcements on my profile, so please check it out. Also, review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. Did I improve over my absence? (Probably not, but oh well. When you don't write, you don't get better.)**


	10. Apologies

**Chapter 10 - Apologies**

 **A/N: Just so you know, there is a high possibility that I won't update next week due to the fact that I will be on a vacation and I won't have internet access. Sorry, guys, at least it will only be two weeks rather than a month… In the meantime, happy birthday to me! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I claim no such ownership of Harry Potter.**

 **XXX**

The entire group of bullying Gryffindors turned to the raven haired boy. Severus couldn't believe Lily had just left him out to dry. Sure, this whole leading Potter's stupid group on would be hilarious at the end of the act, but why did he have to do it alone?

Nervously, the black-haired boy turned back to the pack. Time to enter the lions' den, a terrifying thing to attempt.

"E-er, hello…" Severus trailed off, sweating.

"Hi," Potter answered shortly, glaring daggers at the boy now that Severus' protection had left him.

"Hey, mate. Let's go find a compartment!" Black replied kindly. Severus was suddenly not looking forward to his reaction when the truth was revealed as much as he previously was. It was strange, Severus noted, but he would ignore these feelings anyway.

"Yeah, let's find one!" Pettigrew echoed in his annoying, squeaky little voice.

Severus nodded, not willing to open his mouth for fear of vomiting out his nerves.

Lupin clapped Severus on the back, and held onto his shoulder in a forceful grip. "Yeah, go on ahead, guys. I've got something to say to this 'new kid.'"

Severus stiffened up even more, if it were possible. The other three walked on ahead, consoling James.

"I know who you are," Lupin muttered.

"Then why didn't you tell your gang?"

"Because I wasn't entirely certain. You've changed a lot over the summer, Snape."

Severus' anger began to bubble at this pompous bully, although he desperately hid any emotion previously visible on his face. "I'm well aware."

"Snape, why would you and Lily try to infiltrate our compartment?"

"That's none of your business, Lupin."

"Look, Sn- Severus," Lupin slowly said, making Severus flinch at the use of his first name. Lupin sighed, "I'm sorry for all the hurt we've caused you in previous years. We've… acted wrongly to you, and it was not alright."

The anger burst from the victim wizard. He turned around faster than Lupin could blink and rounded on the boy. "You're _sorry_? _You_? Don't make me laugh."

"I- I'm sorry-"

"I don't accept that stupid apology of yours. You're only apologizing because I'm a looker now," Severus growled, emotions pent up for years only just at bay. "That's no reason to apologize, and you have no guilt for any of your emotions."

"Be reasonable, Sever-"

" _Don't call me Severus, you egotistical monster_!"

Lupin could only watch with regret as Severus fled to his usual hiding place of the nearest restroom, fighting tears. The worst part was how Remus agreed entirely. He was a complete monster, and did not deserve to apologize, nor refer to him by his first name. If only he could take everything back, but he had just wanted to be accepted by his friends.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: Please review, it would make me so happy!**


	11. Heal

**Chapter 11 - Heal**

 **A/N: Aaaannndd I'm back! Hi! This is a rather emotional chapter, not much humor if any. Just a warning. Now enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: If I owned Harry Potter, this fanfic would not exist as a fanfic. However, it is a fanfic and I do not own Harry Potter.**

 **XXX**

After a check-in with the Heads and the other prefects, Lily found the compartment where the "Marauders" were. Severus didn't appear to be there.

"Hey, Lupin, where is Se- er, my friend?" she asked, feigning nonchalance while completely ignoring Potter.

"He left after Remus talked to him. And we know who he is, by the way, Evans," Black said. He was obviously angry, but his voice sounded like he forced it into a neutral tone when he spoke to her. Immediately, Lily felt extreme worry well up inside her. How stupid she had been, leaving him alone with his tormentors! Just because he looked different didn't mean he wasn't scared of a gang who had bullied him for so long! She wanted to slap herself.

Panicked, she got ready to hex or run at any second. "What did you do to him?!" she interrogated frantically. The group of troublemaking boys just shrugged, save for Lupin, who became as stiff as a board. Lily decided to round on him. "You know something, Lupin! Give me answers right now or so help me I will hex you into next week!"

The sandy-blonde wizard looked very guilty. "He.. ran down to the end of the train."

Lily didn't wait for him to elaborate, favoring the option of bolting down the halls of cars to the end of the train, crimson hair whipping behind her. It didn't look like Lupin wanted to talk anymore, anyway.

Severus was leaning against a wall in the last compartment of the train. He desperately wanted to sink into the plaid cushion he was sitting on and never come out again. Was it peaceful in Heaven? It was probably less lonely than what he felt at that moment. Maybe he would see his mother again. She used to sing little songs to calm him down when his father was on a drunk rampage. Granted, she wasn't very good, but it was better than nothing.

He felt a tear roll down his cheek and he kept his eyes closed, wondering if he would ever have another chance to find happiness. He had this one, but he blew it. _Great job, Sev, you really made Lily proud_ , he chided himself. He wasn't supposed to cry, either. His demon of a dad had taught him that early on. Why did he have to cry so much? Why did he have to cry now?

"Severus! Let me in!"

The boy snapped his eyes open and quickly scrubbed the tears away from his onyx eyes. There was Lily, his best friend Lily, standing outside the compartment door with a frantic look on her beautiful face.

"I'm so sorry," Severus said in a hushed breath, unlocking the sliding door and allowing the green-eyed witch entry. Immediately, he was engulfed in a hug.

"Don't be sorry," she whispered back, "I'm the one who's sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Sev. What was I thinking?"

Severus was beyond confused. Wasn't he the one who failed? She should be angry for ruining the joke, right? Regardless, he clutched onto her as she was to him. Together, they fell to the ground. Lily was crying her guilty, regretful tears into his muggle shirt, and he allowed a few more of his salty tears to slip down his face into her hair. Why was this happening? This was the most he had cried in a day for years. It felt refreshing, though. Like he was being cleansed of something.

It was comforting.

Eventually, Severus stopped the liquid from flowing down his face. Lily had fallen asleep. He probably should wake her up so they can change and be ready for when they arrived at Hogwarts. However, they had only started the train ride forty-five minutes ago, so it should be alright, right? So, instead of getting up out of the most comforting embrace he could remember, he decided to go to sleep too.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: This was important, so hope you enjoyed it. Please review!**


	12. Cornered

**Chapter 12 - Cornered**

 **A/N: I just remembered that it was Friday (T-T) If it's really late for you, I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I just rushed to my computer in a panic and my heart is still beating too fast. Yeah, I have issues. Enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: All ownership of Harry Potter goes to the brilliant Ms. Rowling.**

 **XXX**

"Sev, wake up. We've only got about a half an hour before we get to Hogwarts, and you still have to change."

Severus woke up with a jolt, face feeling crusty from dried tears and joints aching from the position they had fallen asleep in. "Wha- Lily?"

His brain's fog cleared quickly and he remembered what had happened.

"Come on, Severus. You really have to change. I'll go outside if it makes you uncomfortable," Lily suggested, opening the door tentatively.

The raven-haired boy got up and grabbed his trunk which he had taken with him when he fled earlier. "Mmsure. I'll call you back in in a minute."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw crimson hair bounce up and down, before the door shut with a confident click.

He changed quickly and allowed his childhood friend back inside. Together, they waited for the train to get to a stop so Lily could go help the first years while he found the two a carriage.

Twenty minutes later, the train came to a familiar jolting stop. Lily wasted no time in getting out into the hall and calling for all the first years in the car, only pausing to give Severus a squeeze on the shoulder for courage. Severus, in the meantime, picked up Angel's carrier and walked off off the train, getting jostled by surrounding students along the way.

He walked around the station, patting thestrals on their noses and looking inside full carriages. How do they fill up that fast? At the end of a row, he found an empty one.

Severus had been able to see thestrals since second year, because of his mother getting killed by his father's drunken rage over the summer. He wished it hadn't happened, but he was glad he witnessed it. It was easier to accept when he had watched it happen with his very eyes.

He supposed that most people would disagree with this philosophy, but then again, most people were brought up in very different circumstances. Especially Lily.

The dark-eyed boy would forever be grateful that the Evans family was the one that saved him.

With a grunt, he hoisted up Angel and sat down. Mrs. Ev- er, Abrianna had a tendency of spoiling the poor cat until she could barely twitch her tail.

Angel meowed loudly, causing Severus to chuckle sympathetically. "I know," he told the cat, "you didn't get to move around much at all today. I wouldn't like it either."

She mewed again.

"Yeah, tough luck, you poor thing," Severus agreed again. "I'm sure Lily will let you out soon, though."

"Are you so lonely that you have to talk to a cat for company?" Severus heard a snide voice say from the door of the carriage.

"Potter," Severus spat back, albeit nervously. He was blocking the exit, meaning there was no escape. However, it would turn out that there was no need for one when Lupin grabbed his friend with a guilty shake of his head.

Slowly, Potter unclenched the fists he had been hiding behind his back. Severus let out a breath that he hadn't known he had been holding, to which Lupin flinched.

Then Black stepped into the doorway, whispered something to Lupin and Potter, and stepped into the carriage whilst the other three of the Marauders continued on.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: Please review, what do you think will happen? Another cliffie getting you thinking!**


	13. Interrogated

**Chapter 13 - Interrogated**

 **A/N: Heyyy, time to answer your burning questions on what happened next! Sorry I updated a day late, hope you enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.**

 **XXX**

Severus backed up on the seat until he hit the other side of the carriage. There, he closed his eyes and turned his head pathetically, waiting for the worst of it.

"You really are the same Snivellus, aren't you?" Black said with both amusement and something more depressing laced throughout his tone.

The bullied wizard said nothing in return. His breathing became short and terrified. Severus was being absolutely pumped with adrenaline and yet he still couldn't do anything. Why wasn't Black hexing him already? He just wanted it over with!

He dared to crack one eye open and examine the Gryffindor standing over him. Black wore an expression Severus had never seen before. It wasn't kind, but it wasn't cruel either.

"What are you doing?" Severus groaned. "Just curse me already and get it over with."

Much to Severus' surprise, Black shook his head. Slowly, he sat down onto the opposing seat and flicked his wand with a whisper. The door clicked shut ominously. Severus felt as if he was about to lose his mind as he cautiously stood up from the floor and positioned himself on the seat in a way that would make it easier to run if he was able to.

Then the thestrals started clip-clopping away. The journey to Hogwarts had begun, and Severus realised with an unsettling jolt in his stomach that he was stuck in this small, moving space with his tormentor for the next twenty minutes.

The horror on his face must have shown through, because Black chuckled again, a smirk fixed on his face. "Calm down, Snape. My mates and I had some questions for you, and I decided to ask them."

"What if.. What if I don't want to answer them!" Severus stated, attempting to summon up courage, but failing miserably. Why couldn't Black be as easy to be angry at as Lupin? Rage would be much preferable to the bone-chilling fear Severus felt creeping up his spine.

Black frowned. "We want to know how you changed from a slimy git to, well, you know."

"F*ck off, Black."

The opposing boy looked the most surprised he had ever been in his life. "I didn't know you used that kind of language."

Severus just covered his mouth in horror. Did he just say that to someone who could easily hex him to an inch of his life while they were trapped together? He was going to die!

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't say that, please don't hurt me-"

"Stop that," Black cut him off. "You're literally lowering yourself. Stop it."

" _Huh?_ " Severus couldn't comprehend what was going on.

Black sighed, "Anyways, Snape, just answer the question."

At this point, Severus knew he had two options, neither of which he liked. On one hand, he could tell Black, which would either lead to a forced explanation of the backstory he didn't particularly feel like sharing with his bully, or lead to teasing about the fact that the abused fifteen-year-old didn't know how to wash his hair. On the other, he could say nothing and risk being hexed and humiliated before Severus had even reached Hogwarts.

Great. Severus wished he could spend more time thinking over which option was worse and which was better, but Black was still staring at him intently with stormy grey eyes that threatened of worse things to come.

"U-uhh.."

Wait! But he could make something up!

"Uhm.." Severus gulped, searching through his thoughts for a good lie. Luckily for him, this was something he had come to be good at after spending years with both his father and the Slytherins. "I.. Well, Lily finally convinced me to try the diet she had been attempting to pressure me into for years, and it worked…"

There. That was even a half truth (he _had_ started a healthier diet with Lily over the summer), which he had always found to make something more believable. There was something about the body language in a half-truth that was more trustworthy than a complete lie.

Severus watched nervously as Black scrutinized over the transformed boy's form. Finally, Black spoke, "Really? A diet?"

The onyx-eyed male focused his entire being into making himself think, just for a moment, that it was completely true. It materialized into a quick nod.

Then Black leaned back in his seat in a way that said he had grabbed the bait, looking out the window of the carriage with an expression of surprise on his face, and Severus let out a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding.

"Mrow?" said Angel, interrupting Severus' moment of relief. Both boys looked at the feline.

"I hate cats," Black mentioned, still staring at the cat. Severus quickly scooped up Angel's basket and held it protectively in his arms, which, for some strange reason, caused Black to chuckle.

"Don't worry, Snape. I won't hurt Evans' cat. James would kill me."

This did not convince Severus to loosen his hold in the slightest.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: Would'ja look at how long this chapter is? Look at how long this chapter is! Dang, me, why is this chapter so long? Well, hope you guys liked it, anyways. Please review, follow, favorite, look at my other stories, all that good stuff. No new updates on my profile this time, but the previous changes are still up. Wattpad, anyone?**


	14. Whispers

**Chapter 14 - Whispers**

 **A/N: Students discover Severus with Lily. Enjoy! Also, sorry this one was late too (T-T).**

 **TO THE GUEST WHO REVIEWED ON FEBRUARY 9:**

 **I know it seems strange, but I had considered Snape's character in memories and throughout his teaching years. I have came to the conclusion that all of the traits you listed are ones he did not develop until around his seventh year, or afterwards. However, in this he is only fifteen. He still has Lily on his side, he hasn't perfected his skills, and he is still figuring out how to deal with his insecurities and misfortune. I highly doubt any of those traits would show up at all, save for a little bitterness from time to time. I believe he would be extremely afraid of and angry at those who hurt him, because that is something he has shown clearly throughout the books, regardless of age. I hope this clears your confusion up**

 **DISCLAIMER: I'm not Joanne Rowling. This means I don't own Harry Potter.**

 **XXX**

Relief can not even begin to describe the feeling Severus experienced when they finally arrived at Hogwarts. He had been shielding Angel with his arms uncomfortably and attempting to ignore Black (who had been glancing at the future potions master speculatively from time to time for the past fifteen minutes). Overall, it had been an extremely awkward and disagreeable ride that Severus couldn't wait to get off of.

Which was exactly why he bolted off out of his own little Hell the moment it stopped moving, dragging a yowling cat with him.

"Lily?" he shouted into the crowd, looking for the redheaded owner of the displeased animal who's basket he was clutching.

"Sev!" a voice shouted a little ways behind him. "Sev!"

Severus turned around. "Lily!" he cried in relief.

Somehow, the two managed to jostle, bump, and force their way through the crowd of students to each other.

"Oh my goodness, Sev! I couldn't find you when I was heading to the carriages!" Lily said in a fast whisper of a tone that she uses when she feels like she has to explain herself, "And then Potter and Remus grabbed me and pulled me into theirs! I'm glad you're okay, Black wasn't there-"

"Yeah," Severus interjected into Lily's worried ramble, handing her the disgruntled cat, "he was with me."

"I-I- _what?_ " Lily replied, aghast.

"Yeah. I'm alright though," Severus attempted to alleviate her worries, but to no avail.

" _What?_ Oh my god, Sev, what were they trying to do? What happened?!"

"Shh, Lily, you're making a scene," Severus said, "I'll tell you later, okay?"

Lily gulped, taking deep breaths. "Yeah, alright."

Severus felt warm and fuzzy inside. Lily was worried about him again! _Him_!

All around the two, students looked on at them with wide-eyes. Then the whispers erupted.

"Do you think Evans has a foreign boyfriend?"

"Ooh, Potter isn't going to like this."

"Who do you think he is?"

"I hope he's in my house."

"No, look, he's in Slytherin. He has the badge pinned to his robes."

"You think Evans has a thing for Slytherin men? You know, because first it was Snape and now there's this guy."

"Potter _really_ isn't going to like this."

"Think he would go to Hogsmeade if I asked him, or do you think he's with Evans?"

People gossiped around them as Severus attempted to continue walking normally, half of him wanting to bask in the glory of this gossip and half of him wanting to shrink away and never be seen again. The latter half won. Severus grabbed onto Lily's hand and started walking faster, eliciting more whispers to ripple throughout the crowd before the students continued their journey to the castle doors.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: Please review!**


	15. Potter's Gang

**Chapter 15 - Potter's Gang**

 **A/N: We've reached over 100 reviews on this fanfiction! That is mind-boggling to me! Thank you so much for all the support you've given, you have no idea how happy this milestone (and really just support in general) makes me. Anyways, this chapter is a filler, because it's important to do that when it's needed. I'm sorry it wasn't longer, it's not a really great celebration chapter :P. Still, I hope you enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: Is it even a question that I don't own Harry Potter at this point? If it is, the answer is no. I don't own the Harry Potter books, nor movies, nor anything else related to it other than this fanfic.**

 **XXX**

"Those complete jerks!" Lily fumed. "How dare they!"

Severus couldn't argue with her, as he was sort of thinking the same thing. The two were walking through the corridors of Hogwarts with all the other students who were above first year, attempting to get to the Great Hall without being trampled. Severus had explained what had happened on the way up in the carriages, causing Lily to turn red with rage.

In the meantime, the whispers hadn't stopped, although Severus still couldn't decide if this was a good or bad thing.

"Well," he offered, "I agree with you. They are jerks, but you can't really do anything about it." This did nothing to calm Lily down.

"Yes they are! I'll figure out some way to do something about it! It's been five years now and they're pulling a stunt like that! They purposefully separated you and I just so you could get interrogated about your newfound looks! Those bastards!"

Severus could barely keep himself from skipping. Whenever Lily got angry at his tormentors, he just felt so satisfied. Especially when she was mad at Potter. Bloody Potter.

Instead, he decided to adopt his persona of the reasonable one, which he was. "Lily," he said consolingly, "please lower your voice. Potter's gang are awful people, of course, but-"

"What about Potter's gang?"

Severus turned around to see Professor McGonagall looking as stern as ever, hair in a tight bun and lips pulled into a thin line.

This was not a pleasant surprise. Severus happened to be slightly intimidated by Professor McGonagall, due to the fact that, while she was generally a fair teacher, she was very strict and unyielding (not a Slytherin's favorite choice of person). Also, she happened to find herself amused rather than disgusted by Potter's gang for the majority of the time, which was not helpful to a boy who was bullied by the four boys all the time.

"Uh, um, well, you see, Professor-" Severus hated how he couldn't talk straight when he was nervous. He wanted to fix that, but never really was able to get around to it. Most likely because when he was in a situation where he could try, he lost his ability to not panic. In the meantime, the Gryffindor Head of House stared at him with a stoic expression fixed firmly on her features.

"Potter was playing tricks on us on the way up, Professor," Lily interjected. There she went, saving Severus once again. Thank merlin.

"Y-yeah," he agreed in a tone barely discernible.

"... thank you, Ms. Evans," McGonagall said, not taking her eyes off of Severus, "I suppose I will have to speak to them after the feast. On your way, now."

The two followed her instructions without any hesitation, scuttling off together through the crowd. Severus could feel McGonagall's eyes following the back of his head in addition to all the other students' surrounding them.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: Remember to review!**


	16. Slytherin

**Chapter 16 - Slytherin**

 **A/N: I love all of you guys so much, so thank you for all of your support, every single one of you. As a reward for being such wonderful and enthusiastic people, I've decided to update a day early! Warning, there is some minor swearing in this chapter. Anyways, I hope you enjoy watching Severus get taken down by a pack of creepy dorm mates!**

 **DISCLAIMER: Still don't own Harry Potter.**

 **XXX**

The feast was not much different than normal, save for the elephant in the room.

Severus entered the Hall with Lily, separated, and sat down at the Slytherin table to wait for the first years, as per usual. Teachers were barking orders at students, students were slowly carrying out their instruction while chatting happily with their friends, and all the while ghosts fluttered about the gigantic dining space of Hogwarts.

Then, those who had been gawking at the newly transformed Severus came in to gawk at him inside. This caused the students to stop talking and look over. The actions carried to the ghosts, and finally the teachers.

And then the whispers started again.

Eventually, a couple teachers snapped out of the trance and began organizing the student body again. Just like that, the Hall went back to normal, save for the rippling whispers and curious glances occasionally thrown his way.

Just like every year, Severus sat alone at the end of the long, wooden table, while the surrounding Slytherins ignored his presence during the sorting ceremony and Dumbledore's stupid speech. Well, ignored was more like burned holes in the back of his head with their eyes, but regardless; Severus sat alone at the feast, as per usual.

It was when he finally went to his dorm, someone recognized him.

"Snape?" Rosier suddenly asked in the most startled tone Severus had ever heard in his life.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Severus shot back from his four-poster bed. The good thing about being in Slytherin was the fact that you didn't have to figure out how to show respect if you didn't want your head torn off. Just be as cold and standoffish as the rest of them, and boom, you're golden. Well, silver.

This strategy didn't exactly save him from Potter or Black, or help him with teachers, but it was definitely useful in his dungeon dwelling.

Severus' curtains were suddenly ripped apart, allowing three awe-stricken boys to pile onto the bed.

"Merlin's beard, it's Snape!" Mulciber yelped, after grabbing Severus' face and inspecting it closely.

"Holy sh*t, you're right!" Avery confirmed, looking over Severus.

The three boys continued to rampage over the poor boy, who was feeling very unsafe, and just a little bit violated.

"Agh, Lestrange, help me!"

"No can do," Rodolphus Lestrange replied coldly from his bed. "A real Slytherin has to be able to get himself out of situations. We should have attacked you sooner, you wimp."

Severus didn't know what to do. Help wasn't coming, and in the meantime, he was being observed closely by three of his very creepy dorm mates.

And then he felt his shirt being ripped off.

"What the hell?" Severus yelled as Avery scrutinized his stomach.

"He's developing actual muscles! Guys! This dude's been working out!"

"Get the hell off of me!"

 **XXX**

 **A/N: . . . yep. I wrote that. And it was weird. Anyways, please review!**


	17. Breakfast

**Chapter 17 - Breakfast**

 **A/N: It's another chapter! Once again, a filler, but oh well. I hope you enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: Dear JK Rowling, can I please take all your credit for Harry Potter? Just kidding, I don't, and never will, own the wonderful wizarding world.**

 **XXX**

Severus sat down at the long Slytherin table for breakfast in a very bad mood, due to the fact that his _oh-so-wonderful_ roommates had decided to wake him up with a pillow to his face. Ignoring the stares he received from many a student, he mournfully took a bite of his eggs, preparing for the first day of classes. He was hoping he would have many with Lily, but that was unlikely.

Actually, now that he thought about it, the more classes with Lily he had, the more classes with Potter's gang he would have. Maybe he would share many with the Gryffindors, then. The universe couldn't ever seem to make up its mind on whether it should spite him or leave him be.

Grudgingly, he took the schedule that he was handed and looked it over. It was as he thought. Just about half of his classes were shared with the Lions.

Severus wasn't allowed further thought when he felt a little paper doe nudge his leg. Severus picked it up and opened the neatly folded note.

' _Do you like it?_ ' it read, ' _Mary taught me this wicked cool spell she learned from her older sister over the summer._ '

Ah, yes, Mary. Lily's other current best friend due to the fact that she was so friendly with all of her roommates. Severus personally thought that the curly blonde was a bit of a ditz, but he wasn't going to just control who Lily hung out with for fear that she would get mad at him.

' _Anyways, we have double potions first together! Are you ready? We'll sit at our normal table, right?_ _I'll see you then! - Lily'_

Severus turned around and gave a nod to his redhead friend, who grinned.

"Oi! Watchu lookin at her for, mate? She's a Gryffindor!" Deimos Wilkes said, tapping Severus on the shoulder. Severus turned back around, holding in his annoyed groan.

"You never seemed to care in previous years, Wilkes," Severus replied, his eyes narrowed so they looked like demonic pools of inky blackness.

The look in question was called his demon stare, and he was very proud of it. He had discovered it had somewhat of an effect on his fellow Slytherins when he was clearly angry, and had spent the entire summer of second year perfecting it. Sadly, it had just caused his father to hate him more ("SHE GAVE ME A F*CKING DEVIL FOR A SON!"), but at least it was a bit of a shield with the snakes.

Wilkes looked over Severus' slightly sallow face for a long moment, scrutinizing every little feature he took note of. Eventually, his eyes widened, and with a tone similar to the one his roommates used, he blurted out "Snape?!"

"Oh, he figures it out at last," Severus said sarcastically, before shutting up and continuing to eat his meal.

While he had to defend himself, if he crossed the line he would probably end up with a fish head and hooves for the next couple of weeks. It was a _very_ fine line in the snakes' den too, unlike the ones with teachers or the stupid "Marauders." Their rules were simple. Don't do anything but stay silent and wait for the confrontation to be over. When it's a teacher, maybe nod respectfully and apologize at times. When it was a marauder, he could add in a few pleas for mercy if he was feeling up to going that low.

"Merlin's beard, Snape! What happened?!"

"Don't ask," was Severus' only reply as he got up from the table to get to class early, snagging Lily on the way. He felt Potter's burning stare on his back while he and Lily left the Hall. To Severus' surprise, he felt very satisfied at that particular detail.

And then something very sticky landed with a splat on the back of his head.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: Another cliffie! Mwahahahaha! See you next Friday, remember to review! What do you think will happen?**


	18. Food Fight

**Chapter 18 - Food Fight**

 **A/N: Read the chapter title. That's the entire chapter summary. Enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: Hi, strange person who randomly clicked on Chapter 18 before reading everything before it. If you haven't heard, I don't own Harry Potter. Welcome back, everyone else who read this from the beginning and already knew that!**

 **XXX**

Contrary to Severus' slow, cautious, and frankly quite embarrassed turn, Lily immediately whipped around to look for the culprit of the attack.

The prime suspect was immediately Black, who quickly handed the empty plate to Potter, who in turn shoved it into Pettigrew's hands. The hall was silent, everyone stared Severus, then at the Marauders, not able to believe that they would prank the "new" kid on the first day.

Well, not everyone was as dumbfounded. Rodolphus Lestrange simply scoffed and turned back to reading today's issue of the Daily Prophet, causing other Slytherins to do the same.

"BLACK! HOW _DARE_ YOU!" Lily screeched across the Great Hall.

Wonderful. Not only was Severus pranked as normal, but a _Gryffindor muggleborn girl_ immediately came to his aid afterwards. Not that he didn't appreciate the help, as always, but he could definitely kiss his chance at a new reputation goodbye.

Honestly, this place was Hell.

Black started to laugh, but was cut short by Peeves, Hogwarts' only poltergeist and resident chaos-lover. He zoomed down the Hufflepuff table, giggling in a horrible sort of way, before he pelted some poor girl with scrambled eggs.

"Oi! You _cannot_ hit innocent people! That's against the rules!" Potter yelled to the horrible being zooming around the room, making Severus sigh with irony.

In response, Peeves simply dumped a jug of pumpkin juice on Potter's head.

"No one attacks my best mate like that!" Black shouted in return, jumping on top of the table with Pettigrew's platter of sausages in hand, "THIS MEANS WAR!" With a dramatic heave and a sad whisper from Pettigrew ("I wanted to eat those…"), the sausages flew across the room and splattered all over a very angry Slytherin's back.

She shrieked and splashed her mug of tea into the student body.

Before Severus could blink, someone had yelled "FOOD FIGHT!" (it was probably Potter), and edible projectiles were flung throughout the air onto various shouting students.

Severus could only watch the scene with mild amusement. For once, he wasn't in the middle of all the trouble. It was actually quite entertaining, watching stupid children hit other stupid children with delicious breakfasts they were supposed to be eating, while teachers ran about, attempting to stop their misbehaving students while getting hit with food themselves.

Absentmindedly, he reached up to his hair. Down came a good stack of about three sticky-sweet pancakes from his hair. They dropped to the floor where four of their brothers were already waiting, oozing golden liquid onto the floor. Severus suspected that his raven hair was probably plastered to his head in a horrible goopy mess, but couldn't seem to care while he watched the scene before him. This was the most chaotic thing he had ever experienced here, and he wasn't even the main event! How wonderful!

Peeves zoomed up once again, diving and shrieking with glee. He emptied an entire bowl of oatmeal on top of an extremely indignant and dumbstruck Lily.

Back and forth, Severus watched every type of food on the table get thrown across the Hall, smacking different people in the face and enraging them enough to throw other things back. He even saw some Ravenclaw second year spray an entire bottle of ketchup at his poor friend, before turning back to help Lily wipe some of the gray mush from her hair.

Potter and Black were having a disgustingly good time of themselves during the entire charade. As Severus crawled under the table to grab Lily some more fallen napkins, Black launched an entire breakfast pie across the area with a catapult that Lupin appeared to have just constructed himself with utensils.

And then…

Every person in the hall stopped breathing when the pie hit Professor Dumbledore directly on his crooked nose, little bits sliding down his white beard. A deafening squelch of the pie hitting the floor rang through the Hall like the drums of doom.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: I'm getting good at these cliffies, aren't I? Excited for the next chapter? Please review! What do you think Dumbledore is going to do?**


	19. Potter

**Chapter 19 - Potter**

 **A/N: Hi! I'm back! I'm sorry I didn't post last week, if you had checked my profile you would know that I had things come up that had prevented me from finishing this chapter in time. But hey, it's here now! A continuation of the food fight, where Severus comes to a couple rather startling realizations. Enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. Plan and simple, right there, same as always.**

 **XXX**

Slowly, Dumbledore reached up and wiped a bit of the pie off of his crooked nose. He studied the filling for a silent moment or two, and then slowly, ever so slowly, reached down to his plate.

The smile was recognizable underneath his silver, food covered beard to the entire population in the Hall. While everyone else barely breathed, Dumbledore held up his plate of eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns. The Hall erupted into chaos again the moment the headmaster of the school flung the contents of his breakfast down the staff table to hit Professor Sprout in the face, knocking her pointy witch hat off of her fly-away grey hair.

Severus was both awe-struck and amused at the same time. So this was the sort of school that Professor Dumbledore, _the_ Albus Dumbledore ran.

The realization that this was the man in charge struck him in the face for the first time in his Hogwarts school career, making him both afraid and... something else he could not understand. Bitter, perhaps? This "supreme wizard" was flawed in so many ways, but he had so much power. He could get his school in order if he wanted, but he didn't.

Albus Dumbledore was a man who could hold the world in his fist, if he so desired. But, he _allowed_ the chaos and the fun. He opened up so many cracks for the traitors and villains to attempt to grab hold, and yet.. They didn't. They couldn't as long as Professor Dumbledore remained in his position, anyways.

It sickened Severus to realise how much power Dumbledore really held. He did nothing with it! If Severus had that sort of grip on humanity, he would have done so many things by this time. Some were good and some, admittedly, were not so good, but that was beside the point.

The fact remained that this oh-so-great leader was practically useless.

Lily paused in her shrieking rage at Peeves, most likely noticing the twisted look of horror and betrayal on Severus' pale face. "Sev, are you alright?"

"Huh?" Severus snapped out of his epiphany in order to gawk at his friend. "Yes, of course, sorry. I'll keep looking for napkins."

Lily threw a quick worried glance in Severus' direction before turning back to the gleeful poltergeist and grabbing a plate of ham. In the meantime, Severus busied himself with a hunt for a few items. Napkins, for Lily, and some sort of shield.

More food came raining down in great waves of mess upon students, tables, walls, and windows. The only thing left that was truly free from any sort of breakfast was the ceiling of the hall, still merrily shining the bright morning light. All of the students, and almost all of the staff were covered head-to-toe in spilt drinks, thrown potatoes and eggs, breakfast pies, pancakes, and syrup.

"OPEN FIRE!" Potter shouted above the ruckus yet again, signalling to a very amused and sticky Lupin to fire the very weapon that had hit the Headmaster in the face. It was loaded with several halved avocados.

Staff had completely given up on stopping the fray after Dumbledore's betrayal, instead settling for dumping plates and mugs on one-another's heads.

Everyone who enjoyed the food fight stayed to either fight or watch (mostly fighting, if you watched you got hit quickly). Everyone else had run through the double doors for cover and to tramp their breakfast-covered selves to their common rooms to shower. Strangely enough, Lily was not included in this group.

While Severus had been crawling behind tipped benches and underneath the four tables, skulking in the background, looking for the items of his self-proclaimed quest, Lily had picked up some plates of something and lobbed them at the Marauders.

Severus returned, hair matted to his head with various foodstuffs, with a rather large silver plate that he had decided would protect his head well enough from the oncoming ammunition. He also had a fistful of fallen napkins of various colors, found throughout the hall.

He went to distractedly hand a blue one to his muggleborn friend, when he noticed she was laughing rather hard and chucking handfuls of baked beans at… Potter, who was also laughing his head off, doubled over with beans splattered on his glasses and face, clutching his stomach.

Severus felt a strange ache settle down to constrict his chest.

Slowly, he set the napkins down beside Lily and backed away, clutching the plate in front of him as to protect him from more food. It did rather poorly, but oh well.

Without a word, he snuck out of the hall and began descending the stairs to the dungeons below.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm sorry for the long wait, but hey, at least you read it now! Remember to review, I would always love to hear your thoughts on any latest chapters, and follow/favorite if you haven't already! I'll see you all next Friday :)**


	20. Classroom Kidnap?

**Chapter 20 - Classroom Kidnap..?**

 **A/N: Dang, it's been a while. Sorry for skipping last week, but never fear, the chapter is here now! And actually on a Friday, too! :) Anyways, nothing much to say about this chapter other than the fact that it hints at a little thing coming up. Let's see if you catch that! Review your theories on what it is this chapter is foreshadowing, I would love to see them! Anyways, enough of my rambling, enjoy the chapter now!**

 **DISCLAIMER: Even though it's been two weeks, I still haven't gotten Harry Potter. Yep, I still don't own it. Oh, don't be so disappointed. You're making me feel bad!**

 **TO THE GUEST WHO REVIEWED ON MARCH 29:**

 **You're absolutely right. Oops! Don't worry, I went back and fixed it. That was my bad!**

 **XXX**

The food fight was finally ended about three hours later, when everyone but the marauders had gotten tired of the stupid thing and gone to their living spaces to clean themselves up. It wouldn't have even ended then, since there were still three enthusiastic and rowdy boys willing to keep it going (Pettigrew had gotten tired and gone down to the kitchens to find something he could eat rather than throw). But alas, they had to run out of food sometime.

Classes were obviously cancelled for the day, meaning the first day of school would technically have to start tomorrow. Severus wasn't sure how he felt about that, but he supposed that he was glad that he wouldn't have homework for the night. Unfortunately, this little plus also meant he was going to spending about twice the expected amount of time unsupervised with his weird 'n creepy™ roommates.

Lunch was brought to the Slytherins around about one o'clock, a little over half an hour after the little war had officially ended. The new meal was only allowed to be _strictly_ consumed in the common room, which Professor Slughorn watched closely. The Head of Slytherin House made sure, on no uncertain terms, that anyone who so much as thought about throwing a piece of food was to receive an immediate detention. Of course, members of the Slug Club were exceptions in Slughorn's eyes. Severus was not considered to be one of the "lucky" few.

The next day, Severus woke up bright and early and headed down to breakfast again. The student body, of course, were under extreme supervision. However, Severus didn't think anyone but Potter's gang would actually start up another food fight.

Then, breakfast was over. Since the food fight yesterday, people had generally stopped staring at Severus and allowed him to sink back into the background again. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed, which sort of scared him. Was he entering the same realm as Potter and Black? He hoped not.

Classes were normal, well, as normal as they could get at Hogwarts. The teachers took attendance, they gave the classes a quick overview of the curriculum that year and what was expected of them. None of the expectations involved food fights, though, which Slughorn made _very_ clear. Severus guessed he was probably still hung up over the ruined business robe that looked very expensive.

In every class, he would sit by himself in the back of the room. Whenever he shared a class with Gryffindors, he sat with Lily, still in the back of the room.

And then came Defense Against the Dark Arts, the last class of the day. In fourth year, it had been Severus' favorite, but what happened when he walked in didn't look very promising for the rest of fifth.

He walked through the door. Before he even had time to notice the little change to the arrangement of desks in the classroom (last year, Professor Haggarty wanted one desk with two chairs in every column; this year, Professor Becher stuck two desks together so four people would be sitting together in a row of every column), he was taken under the arms by both Black and Potter. They lifted him up, making him drop his bag, and carried him to a table on the opposite side of the room, near some silver protective devices. Lily was already sitting at the desk, looking very annoyed while Lupin and Pettigrew talked to her in an attempt to keep her there. Her head perked up the moment she saw Severus being carried like unwilling cargo, faced flushed in embarrassment and indignity. She gave him an apologetic expression and jumped up to get him out of the two marauders' grasp.

"Potter! Black! Put him down before I-"

"Agh!" Severus groaned when Black plopped him into a chair behind the three already there. He was quite glad there was almost no one in the classroom at the present time, until he realised that made him much more vulnerable to getting bullied again. He desperately hoped they wouldn't do anything while Lily was sitting right in front of him.

"Calm down, Lily-flower. We aren't hurting him," James consoled.

 _Yet_ , Severus finished in his head.

Lily seemed to have the same train of thought, judging by the way her brows furrowed suspiciously. Potter gave her a disgustingly dashing smile in return.

Lily's face turned a bit red, hopefully from anger. "I'm not going to let him face you jerks by himself, you know," she replied, quietly and firmly, causing Severus to begin feeling a little warm and fuzzy.

"Fine," Potter deadpanned. He gestured to Black and then to Severus' disheveled form, and without further ado, the two boys hoisted him up again and carried him to Lily's desk, setting him back down again in the middle-left seat, which Lupin had already moved from.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter you guys so patiently waited for! If you haven't recently, please check my profile after you review (or before, I don't really care.. Or just now and don't review at all, but that option makes me a little sad). Not only do I have a little announcement, but I also redid my entire thing! I think it's way better than before, so go ahead and just look through that for a minute, too.**


	21. Note

**Chapter 21 - Note**

 **A/N: The word "megane" (pronounced meh-gAH-nay) is used in this chapter. For those who are not familiar with manga and anime terms, it means "sexy or attractive man who wears glasses." Yeah. I thought the word fit really well, so I used it. Don't judge me! And enjoy this chapter!**

 **DISCLAIMER: Guess who owns a thing? Me! It's not Harry Potter, though. I don't own that.**

 **TO THE GUEST WHO REVIEWED ON APRIL 15: Wait and see! Rest assured that there will be a lot, but since the chapters are short, it will probably add together to be about the length of a normal novel, possibly on the longer side.**

 **XXX**

Severus was on high alert. Black was sitting to his left, blocking his way by leaning back in his chair and putting his feet on the desk. This was the most obnoxious way to trap him, in his own opinion. Then again, what was he to expect?

Lily may be on his right, but Potter was blocking the escape on her other side, in the same disgusting way that Black was doing to him. With students beginning to trickle in, briefly glancing out of curiosity before returning to getting ready for class, it was clear that neither Severus nor Lily were getting out of the little trap that the messy-haired megane and his overly flamboyant right-hand man had cleverly put them in.

The only question was: for what purpose? What the heck were these two human devils planning?

Severus was scared to find out.

Lily, however, did not appear to share his fear. "What are you two playing at?" she asked, both annoyed and suspicious.

"What? We can't just sit with you guys when we want to?" Potter said dramatically, placing his hand over his heart like he had been mortally wounded. "Lily-flower, I thought we were friends."

"We are not - and never were - friends, Potter," Lily deadpanned to him in return. Not an inch of remorse showed on her face at her blunt statement.

"Ah! My fair lady has shot me in the heart! But no matter, I shall win her lovely hand in the end-!" Potter once again dramatically exclaimed. He grabbed Lily's pale hand for emphasis, lowering his face to plant a kiss on the back of said captured hand.

"What the- no!" Lily whispered to him angrily, tugging her hand back so that it almost smacked Severus in the face.

Several students looked over to see what was going on. Then, they boredly turned back, dismissing it after seeing Potter and Lily. His dramatic declarations of love and her angry rejections were common. None of the students bothered to look long enough to notice a very nervous Severus sitting by a grey-eyed marauder.

"Quit it, Prongs," Black snickered. "Evans here doesn't like attracting a crowd's attention."

Potter grinned. "She doesn't, does she?"

"Whatever you guys are planning, I want no part in it-"

"MY DEEPEST APOLOGIES, LILY-FLOWER!" Potter interrupts, words so loud it reverberates around the classroom. "I HADN'T REALISED THAT YOU DON'T LIKE BEING THE CENTER OF ATTENTION. LET ME MAKE IT UP TO YOU!"

The whole class was watching now. Mild laughter came from many of the spectators, including.. The teacher? When did the teacher arrive? Severus had been so focused on his and Lily's situation that he hadn't realised that Professor Becher had entered the room.

"Alright! Alright! Settle down now, students," Professor Becher cut in, still chuckling.

Potter and Black exchanged panicked glances as Potter hurried to sit down. They then turned around to search Lupin's face for advice.

No help came to them. Lupin had put his face on the desk in absolute frustration at his friends' time-wasting antics that had lost them the window of opportunity.

Black quickly scribbled a note on a small bit of scrap parchment and passed it to Potter, who then passed it to Lupin, who gave it to Pettigrew. Then all four boys nodded. Lupin still looked very put-out.

"Is there something I should know about?" Professor Becher said, suddenly behind Pettigrew. Although she looked young, she was still making herself out to be quite formidable. She looked like a younger McGonagall, her blonde hair pulled into a tight knot atop her head, brow furrowed, sharp eyes looking for trouble.

"No, Professor. Sorry. We'll pay more attention now," Remus apologized for the group. Everyone else nodded vigorously.

Professor Becher's face instantly lightened into a smile. "Good!" she said, before returning to the front of the class and continuing to outline this year's plan for her class.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: Who else thinks the Marauders are being weird? What disappointed Lupin so heavily? What do you think the note said? Review your thoughts! I want to see them! :)**


	22. Journal

**Chapter 22 - Journal**

 **A/N: Hiya! It is time for another chapter, in which a journal gets murdered, and a certain two boys show up yet again.**

 **DISCLAIMER: "Mom, can I please own Harry Potter?" "I wish."**

 **Yep, that's right. Still don't own Harry Potter.**

 **TO GinnyWeasley09: I'm afraid at this present time, I can't confirm nor deny the possibility that Snily may happen. However, I have about three other candidates for Snape's romance, and while I won't exclude anything simply because one reader said that he/she doesn't like it, that does not mean I'm turning down any possible suggestions brought to my attention. All in all, though, you will simply have to wait and see.**

 **XXX**

Severus and Lily sat together in the library, attempting to get an astronomy map finished. Severus was having a particularly hard time- he was never any good at precisely marking the heavens, as he never really felt that he wanted to try. Severus really wanted to draw charts, preferring making something that was real, and useful. Neither did he particularly care about where each star was, or what it's called. None of this information was helpful to him anyways, so he never payed attention. It was getting on Lily's nerves, though, everytime he exasperatedly threw down his quill and sighed so loudly that Madam Pince started giving him sharp glares every few minutes from wherever she was shelving books at that time.

Severus threw down his quill one more time, and tugged on his hair in frustration, causing Lily to cast a glance in Madam Pince's direction. To her horror, she found that Madam Pince was now only a shelf and a half away, an annoyed frown fixed firmly on her vulture-like feature.

"Severus," Lily whispered her warning, not looking away from the approaching librarian. Severus looked over to where she was gazing.

"Sorry," he whispered back sheepishly. "I won't continue, I didn't realise I was being a problem.."

Madam Pince's glare became more intense as he spoke. She began to stalk closer. It felt as if something icy cold had settled in the pit of his stomach. He had never gotten kicked out of the library before, he had just had a bad day. Oh no, what if this caused problems for Lily, she was a prefect after all-

Then suddenly, a loud noise sounded through the silent, dusty place. Madam Pince immediately turned her squinting eyes towards the source of the sound.

It turned out to be a second-year ravenclaw, Liam Jackson, if Severus remembered correctly from the sorting last year. The poor boy now had to face the wrath of an already angry witch notorious for reacting strongly to those disrupting her peace or harming her books. Jackson's face turned white as she approached, towering over the kid in a way that clearly threatened for worse things to come.

"How _dare_ you hurt that poor book, you insolent brat!" she shrieked, pointed a wizened finger in the offending student's direction, "Get out! Get out now!"

Jackson didn't need to be told twice. Quickly, he gathered his things and rushed out of the library, leaving the abused object behind him. As Madam Pince swept away, muttering about horrible children and detentions and insolence, Severus and Lily crept over to the table to see the book in question.

It turned out to be an average-sized journal, plain and boring, with a couple pages of history of magic notes inside, but that was about it. The problem, however, was that it happened to have a quill stabbed through to the front cover, still standing upright on the wooden table Jackson had previously been working on.

Suddenly, a voice neither Severus nor Lily particularly wanted to hear came from behind them. At the same time, Severus felt an arm hook itself around his muscled shoulder. "Poor little jerk decided to end it's life, huh Prongs?"

"Yeah, how terrible. It must have been a pretty violent ending to the poor thing, amirite Padfoot?"

"Awful."

"Absolutely sickening."

"Will you two stop talking as if that poor boy murdered a cat and just go away already?" Lily gritted, an annoyed flush appearing on her face.

"Aw, Lily-flower. Don't you want me around?" Potter cooed.

"GET OUT!" Madam Pince yelled. Without further ado, they did.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: The journal thing, while exaggerated, did actually happen. Just thought I'd put that out there. Anyways, remember to review!**


	23. Llama Incident

**Chapter 23 - Llama Incident**

 **A/N: I kid you not, that is the title of this chapter. Enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: Another week, another sad admittance that I do not own Harry Potter. That includes this week.**

 **XXX**

At times like these, Severus liked to reflect on how the heck he had gotten there.

Most of the time, the answer was some form of bullying, abuse, or embarrassment. This time, he didn't have an answer at all.

Severus was being marched down an empty corridor, pinned between an unwilling Lily and a certain infamous Black. Both he and his best friend were being held by one shoulder as they awkwardly shuffled down the hallway by Black and his best friend. It was uncomfortable, it was weird, and the resulting wall of student took up the entire width of the space.

Strangely, though, Severus noticed that he didn't feel much fear as Black clutched tighter onto his strong(ish) arm. After almost two entire months of random interruptions, but absolutely no bullying, Severus had slowly become less and less afraid of the bumbling Marauder group and more and more confident that he may be able to at least take one of them on or create an effective diversion if need be. The fear was by no means gone, but it was at least diminished.

Severus wasn't sure if that was good or bad, but at least Lily had shown that she was proud of the progress. That was all he cared about.

So, as the group separated to allow a wide-eyed first-year hufflepuff to walk though, Severus found he was able to reasonably concentrate on what the two devils were saying, keeping his annoyance plain on his face.

"C'mon, Lily-flower, be reasonable here."

"You be reasonable you toad-bellied twat!" Lily spat back, letting Severus briefly appreciate how her insults always got particularly colourful when referring to Potter.

"Ouch, that hurt. I've been working pretty hard in quidditch to look good for you, my love~" Potter crooned back, mockingly, winking one of his stupid hazel eyes.

Lily turned bright red and screwed her features into an expression that Severus could only guess to be anger. "Oh, screw off already, you prick," she huffed.

Potter winked again, making Black snicker behind Severus' hair.

Severus then noticed Lily's petite fingers twitching, as if itching to pick up her wand. He said nothing, though, as they all continued striding towards whatever death trap Potter was leading them to.

Potter had no idea of the trouble he was getting himself into when he whispered, "You seem a little red, darling," into Lily's ear as best he could while they all sped down yet another hallway. Severus barely had the time to wonder how many turns they had taken after the last flight of stairs, before Lily stopped with a screeching halt, grabbing onto the back of Potter's robes and flinging him into the closest empty classroom.

Both Black and Severus heard a high-pitched squeal after Lily shouted some words so fast that they couldn't catch them. After looking at each other with mild horror, they telepathically decided to enter the room with their wands out.

Inside stood Lily, arms crossed and ruby hair fluffed out as she watched Potter fight three storms of bat-bogeys with his bare hands. His wand was in Lily's hand, next to her own.

"Well," Black offered, apparent disgust etched onto his face, "at least it's not as bad as the llama incident."

The incident in question (which was a traumatizing experience involving a marriage proposal, two transfigured llamas, and a block of cheese), had had serious repercussions from the object of interest, Lily, who had ensured that Potter spent the next three days in the hospital wing with leaks sprouting out of his ears uncontrollably and several other things that Severus didn't particularly care to revisit. It hurt to admit, but he had to agree with Black. Potter had gotten off easy this time.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: I have nothing to say here, just remember to review! I love reading your comments! :)**


	24. Arithmancy

**Chapter 24 - Arithmancy**

 **A/N: Hey guys! I woke up in a desperate panic at one in the morning after playing out an entire chapter of this fic in my dreamland. Here's the result of said chapter, I hope you like it! By the way, what do you guys think about me redoing the summary? Please check out my updated bio's announcements after reading this chapter, there's some things I'd like your help with if you like being creative, and another thing that I just need to tell you about! Finally, the beginning was sparked by my dad, who proofreads all my chapters for me and said something random while testing something on Google. Thanks Dad! Okay, long author's note is over now, enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter, but I do own the two Hogwarts Professors I have now made up. Look at me, being original and such.. Sort of.**

 **TO THE GUEST WHO REVIEWED ON MAY 11: Yes, that is one of the possibilities.**

 **XXX**

"Professor, we need your help. The marauders are on the roof again and they're throwing lemons at Slytherins."

So much for a normal day of classes, Severus mourned. Professor Waldroop, a wizened old man who taught Arithmancy, appeared to have the same line of thought. He rubbed the bridge of his wrinkled nose with two fingers, looking too old for his job. "Alright, lead me to them, Ms. Vector."

Septima Vector, a first year Ravenclaw, nodded. Her eyes were bright while she looked around the room, but she quickly snapped out of her astounded trance and motioned for Professor Waldroop to follow her, leaving the class to wait for their teacher's return.

Severus and the others sat silently in the room, waiting for something to happen. That was the good thing about taking arithmancy. They were _silent_. Almost all of Severus' classes were the complete opposite, but arithmancy, being the class made up of the good, hardworking students, actually had some semblance of control. They were the smart ones, the ones that used logic and numbers to figure out the magical world. Severus liked that.

That being said, the two fifth year classes that Professor Waldroop taught was mostly made up of Ravenclaws, with a total of three Gryffindors actually trying the elective course. Not even Lily had decided to take it! There were a fair amount of Hufflepuffs and Slytherins, though. They all just sat together in the quiet classroom, silently shaking their heads and looking out windows, waiting for something to happen.

And then they faintly heard an "Ow! Ow, ow! Ow!" from down the hall, along with another person sniggering, and, finally, someone squeaking. The noise grew louder and louder, until the door of the classroom banged open and revealed Potter and Black being dragged inside by their ears, Lupin chuckling behind them, and Pettigrew hiding behind Lupin, still squeaking pleas and apologies.

"Ow!" Potter exclaimed one last time, rubbing his red ear when he was finally released at the front of the room. "You know, you're a lot stronger than you look, Professor."

Professor Waldroop promptly smacked him with a small stack of tests that had been lying on his desk. "Detention for you, young man. And you, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, and Mr. Pettigrew. Sit outside in the hallway, I'll speak to you once class has ended."

Pettigrew squeaked once again.

"Of course, of course, Professor. My sincerest apologies," Lupin replied, still obviously amused at the way his best friends had been escorted to the classroom. He gestured the other three to the door. They filed out, single file. Severus could hear Black muttering obscenities to the "dodgy old codger" on his way out.

Severus was finding it very hard to keep himself from laughing. He couldn't help it; he loved when the marauders got into trouble.

When class ended, Severus and his classmates jostled their way through the door, attempting to be the first to wherever they were going. Even though the halls were becoming crowded and hectic, and he was stuck in the middle of the hustle and bustle of students and ghosts alike, he didn't miss the blatant stares that all four marauders sent his way.

Severus felt a shiver travel down his spine. What were they doing that for?

 **XXX**

 **A/N: Thank you so much for reading, remember to review what you thought. Why do you think the marauders are staring? What do you think will happen next chapter? Do you think my author's notes give some serious accidental spoilers when trying to get people to talk about stuff? (I do.)**


	25. Kitchens

**Chapter 25 - Kitchens**

 **A/N: This chapter doesn't have much humor, but it definitely is important. It's also pretty long. Also, still asking whether or not a summary change sounds good to you guys! If I don't get any answers, next chapter would probably be the last time I ask. After that, I don't get to be lazy anymore, and probably have to make the decision for myself. Don't do that to me, guys! :( Oh, and I've got another announcement on my bio. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I'm running out of interesting ways to say this, but I don't own Harry Potter.**

 **XXX**

"Snape; could you spare a moment, please?"

"What do _you_ want, Lupin?"

"Please, walk with me. I have to talk to you."

"I'm waiting for Lily. Go away."

"Please, Evans will be alright by herself. Just come with me. Please."

Severus was taken aback by how ironic the entire situation was. _Remus Lupin_ begging him, _Severus Snape_. Not only that, but he had been able to turn Lupin away without flinching. Severus never thought he would be able to do such a thing, but, here he was.

Enchanted snow fluttered down on the two boys' heads as they stood in the corridor together. All of Hogwarts was decorated for Christmas, fairy lights glittering on every wall. This was the first year Severus was able to view them, out in the open, in peace. Well, save for the occasional student obviously checking him out before passing by, but Severus had gotten used to that.

"Snape, please just follow me."

"Why should I trust you?" Severus questioned. "Until this year, you and your group brought me nothing but torment. I don't know why you gits stopped that recently, but I do know that I'm not going anywhere with you alone. For all I know, it all could have been an act for something terrible you four are planning."

Severus voiced his views with a forced neutral tone. He was angry, curious, and slightly worried of the repercussions, of course. However, it was only Lupin. Unless the other three jumped out and attacked him, he could take Lupin on. He hadn't stopped working out since he had gotten to Hogwarts.

"I swear I'm not," Lupin pleaded. "Look, you can pick the place we go. And," he stops to hand Severus his wand, "I'll be unarmed. Okay? Please, I need to talk to you."

Severus looked at the cypress wand in his hand, his eyebrows quickly getting dangerously close to becoming part of his hairline if he continued raising then. He looked back at his old bully. Lupin's face showed every drop of desperation that his words had hinted at. His golden-brown eyes glistened with honesty.

". . . Alright," Severus finally gave in. "Let's go to the kitchens."

Immediately, Remus took his wrist and they set off down the stairs, away from the entrance of the Great Hall where Severus had been waiting to talk with his best friend before dinner. It appeared that he wouldn't be doing that at all; he might not even get to dinner, depending on what Lupin wanted him for.

He was jostled with the brunette boy all the way down the stairs, turning a corner, speeding down another hallway while wondering what the heck was going on and how he got there. The whole thing reminded him of what had happened to himself and Lily a little less than a month ago, except, this time, he felt a little more trusting and a little more.. intimate.

That was a weird thought. This will be a weird memory.

Lupin's scarred, yet soft, hand were digging into his arm like Severus was his last lifeline. It was rather distracting from what might await him when it let go at the kitchens.

Suddenly, Lupin stopped. Severus wasn't paying attention, and promptly tripped on him. His face turned red from embarrassment, scrambling to stand up and compose himself. Lupin's face was red too, although from what, Severus didn't know.

"Sorry, sorry, I should have told you we were stopping-" Remus sputtered, but Severus just looked up, still hiding his face with his longish black hair. He couldn't show any weakness, just in case this was some sort of trap. He couldn't fathom how at this point, but the Slytherin wizard always had to be cautious. It was what kept him alive.

"We're here?" he asked, interrupting Lupin's babbling. Lupin nodded in return.

They stood in front of a ginormous painting of a bowl of fruit. Now that they had arrived at the kitchens, he felt a bit awkward; he had no idea what to do. He had never been to the kitchens before. He had to admit now, he wished he hadn't chosen the kitchens. He thought of the place because of an increase of witnesses and saviors (all the elves were supposed to spend most of their time there), but he didn't even know if Lupin had brought him to the right place. He could only use trust, and that was terrifying.

Then Lupin reached up and tickled the pear. It squealed and squirmed, until it formed a green door handle. This was it, the test. Either he would be attacked by the rest of the Marauders, or there would be a lot of elves to save him.

As Lupin opened the door, Severus held out both wands, ready to fire a spell and run. The painting swung open.

At least ten little house elves squeaked their hellos almost immediately, crowding around the two wizards, ushering them inside. Severus was in the right place. He was safe.

Then he noticed Lupin staring pointedly at him from where he stood.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: I'm getting pretty okay at doing cliffies now! Are you guys excited? Heh heh, I think I'm funny, at least. Anyways, review! What do you think is going to happen? Why do you think Lupin is staring? Where are the other Marauders?**


	26. Second Attempt

**Chapter 26 - Second Attempt**

 **A/N: This chapter is slightly heavy, and also probably not going to be a favorite of you Potter-haters. I hope you guys enjoy it somewhat, anyways! Drama at the end!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, but I did brew this chapter's drama myself!**

 **XXX**

Severus gulped, shrinking under Lupin's gaze. The gaze wasn't threatening, but it resembled that of a parent's, sitting their child down to have "the talk." Definitely not something that promised good things for either party.

"Snape.." Lupin began, struggling for the right words to say. His honey colored eyes never left Severus' dark ones. "I've said this before, but I'm sorry. For everything."

Severus was taken aback. "Was this the big important thing you almost ripped my arm off for?" he replied, snark becoming his weapon. Emotions were _not_ helpful in this situation, no matter how many were flitting through his mind to his beating heart. No matter how many flickered in the Gryffindor prefect's eyes. They were not helpful.

"I'm sorry," offered Lupin. He rubbed his right arm with his left, awkwardly. Severus wondered if he did that often. He had never cared to pay attention.

"I've heard."

"You know, sarcasm isn't really helpful in this situation..."

"How do you know?" It was totally helpful in this situation.

Lupin sighed. "I don't."

Severus was taken aback for the third time that evening. Remus Lupin, giving into him _after_ begging to him? Was his father suddenly going to love magic too, and give him a pony this Christmas? Not that Severus wanted a pony; in fact, that was one of the last things he would ever consider wanting, but that was beside the point.

"We're all sorry, you know," Lupin continued after a few seconds of silence. "Peter, and Sirius, and James, even if he doesn't like to acknowledge it."

More silence, before Severus finally asked ". . . Why?" His voice cracked at the end, and internally, he screamed.

"Because we realised you're human," Lupin explained. "We were stupid and bored, and James was jealous. Besides, 'you were just a slimy snake, we were _helping_.' Or at least, that was what we told ourselves. But when you came here and you looked like a person who we might have tried to befriend, and you were completely scared of us, it made us feel awful. It made _me_ feel awful..." Lupin closed his little speech with an obvious regretful tone. It appeared that Lupin wanted to continue, but instead, he swallowed, and looked at Severus with the most sorrowful face. His tone was the most apologetic he had ever heard someone get as he finished. "We've been trying to take it back for a while, but it's really hard. We don't want to think of ourselves as bad people, you know? Besides, we're all cowards. James doesn't want to admit he was jealous of your relationship with Lily, and Sirius was always afraid of any apology of any sort - he just sort of hardens up and pretends it's fine. So, I'm apologizing. For all of us. I know it doesn't make anything we did any better, but we're all really, really sorry and-"

"Just stop," Severus interrupted. His mind was racing so fast it was making his head spin. He didn't want to listen to Lupin's unending drivel any longer. He felt anger well up inside him, but it wasn't white hot as he expected. It mixed with his pain and his sadness, creating sort of a dull ache inside him that made him want to curl up in a dark corner and cry until he fell asleep. However, that was a bad idea. Besides, he couldn't cry even if it would make his situation better. He searched, but there were no tears to shed. Just the ache.

Severus instead settled for staring into space at the tea set, his chin resting on his less-sallow-but-still-pale fingers, his elbows resting on the table he was sitting at. Wait a second, a table? When had he sat down at a table? Why was Lupin still standing, fidgeting behind a chair? He looked like he was going to faint.

"Lupin..?" Severus began to ask, but all questions were stopped when the boy being questioned closed his eyes and collapsed in a heap on the cold stone floor.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: Please remember to review your thoughts and feelings on this chapter! Why did Lupin faint? What will Severus do? I'd love to see how close your theories are! Also, I still have announcements up on my bio if you haven't checked them out yet.**


	27. Elves

**Chapter 27 - Elves**

 **A/N: Here we are again. You people excited? Good. This chapter is, once again, a little heavy, but that's alright. By the way, since I mostly got positive feedback on the whole summary thing, I'm changing it this chapter! I don't know if you noticed or not, but yeah. Enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I made up Sparkle, at the very least. I still don't own Harry Potter, though.**

 **XXX**

"...Lupin!" Severus shrieked, quite worried although he would not admit it to himself later. He rushed to the marauder's side.

Lupin was lucky, from the way he landed, he probably won't have any lasting injuries. He lay haphazardly on his side, one arm stuck out and gently flattened underneath his head. It was obvious he had tried to support himself as he fell, before he blacked out completely. There on the floor, he looked almost peaceful. His fluffy, light brown hair fanned out around his head, his eyelids fluttering softly. It was almost a perfect picture if he wasn't so pale, and wasn't in such an awkward position on the stone.

House elves were crowding around the scene, squeaking out their worries.

"Stop! Back up!" Severus shouted at them. "Give him some space! Someone call Madam Pomfrey!"

High pitched replies reverberated throughout the room, but Severus only relaxed when he heard a pop like a firecracker reach his ears.

Lupin began to stir. Severus cradled the boy's head in his lap so it doesn't crash back down on the floor.

"Snape..?" Lupin slurred, blinking up at him, eyes bleary. "What happened?"

"You fainted, but don't worry. Madam Pomfrey's on her way," Severus explained. His tone was soft, as to not startle or hurt Lupin. He may be angry at him, and he may even hate him, but he wasn't a monster. He had to help, at least.

A few seconds' silence followed Severus' statement, before Lupin continued "What about the apology?"

"... Don't worry about it, Lupin, we just need to get you to the Hospital Wing, okay?"

"Call me Remus," he replied, before closing his eyes again and going limp.

 _Crack!_ Madam Pomfrey appeared holding onto a little elf's hand.

"What happened?" she questioned upon seeing Lupin's (Remus'?) unconscious form on the floor, head still being cradled on Severus' lap.

"Dunno. He just fainted," Severus replied, letting go of Lupin's (not Remus') body so Madam Pomfrey could get a better look.

"Oh dear," the Hogwarts matron muttered under her breath, inspecting Lupin as Severus went to stand uncomfortably in the background, with the elves. "Well, this close, it was only to be expected."

"Is he alright? What do you mean, 'this close'?" Severus asked.

"Nothing," Madam Pomfrey replied firmly. "Yes, he's going to be fine. He didn't take the nicest fall, but once he's spent a night in my Hospital Wing, he'll be right as rain, I'll tell you that. Now, we need to get up and put him in a bed for the night."

"Erm, okay."

"Sparkle!" Madam Pomfrey clapped. A floppy eared elf leapt forward from the rest of her kind. Her large blue eyes glanced worriedly at Lupin, before taking Madam Pomfrey's hand, and holding out her other one for Severus. Severus rushed to take it.

"Oh, and Mr. Snape, dear?" Madam Pomfrey added, as if an afterthought. "Thank you for calling me here. I know you're scared but you did the right thing."

Severus didn't know how to respond to that. He was never really good at doing the right thing in any situation, so to get it right when helping his _enemy_ , regardless that said enemy had just apologized to him, made his stomach knot in quite an uncomfortable way.

But then again, he couldn't deny the swell of pride and relief that had made itself known in his heart.

Then _crack!_ They disapparated.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: As usual, remember to review! What do you think the other marauders will do when they find out what happened? What do you think the problem was? (I feel this one was sorta obvious..)**


	28. Captured

**Chapter 28 - Captured**

 **A/N: Not much happens in this chapter, but hey, I hope you enjoy anyways! That was a fricken short author's note, look at that.**

 **DISCLAIMER: No, I still don't own Harry Potter. Sorry to disappoint.**

 **XXX**

The next day was the twenty-third, which meant everyone was leaving for Christmas break, save for a few lonely children who hadn't wanted to or hadn't been welcome back to their homes. For the first time, Severus was not actually going to be on that list! Just like how the Evans had invited him over for the entire summer, they had opened their doors to him for the entire winter break.

When Severus woke up, two of his four dorm mates were already up and running, bustling around trying to get everything left packed. Granted, there wasn't much left. As Slytherins, they always had to be prepared, which meant they planned and packed ahead of time.

By the time the other two were awake, Severus had already gotten everything into his trunk and had gotten ready for the morning. He headed down to the last breakfast at Hogwarts he would have for the entire year.

The Great Hall was decorated in fantastic splendor. The customary twelve gigantic Christmas trees were twinkling with little fairies, magic candles, golden bubbles, and even more wondrous ornaments that Severus couldn't even begin to describe. Magic snow trickled down from the enchanted ceiling, which only showed grey clouds, but that was okay. It was light and cheerful anyways. House-oriented tinsel was strung on the edges of each long table (green and silver for Slytherin), and a magnificent purple color ran around the staff's. It was a glorious sight to see, and Severus found that he could enjoy it much more when it actually represented something he could look forward to.

Lily glanced over at him, a questioning look clear in her emerald orbs. Severus simply shook his head back at her from across the Hall. He would explain why he wasn't there last night later, on the train.

Potter and Black also stared at him from across the Hall, more questions clear in their eyes. Severus repressed a shudder and ignored them. What happened last night, which was probably what they were staring at him for, was not something to be questioned. It happened, and now he wanted to move on and pretend it never had.

Severus finished his meal and stood up to leave. Lily wasn't quite done with her breakfast yet, but that was alright. He would probably just go to the library and wait for her, he supposed. However, his plans were cut short when a certain trio came up behind him, Potter and Black taking him under the arms and lifting him up just outside the giant double doors.

"Target-" Potter began.

"-captured!" Black finished.

"Ack!" yelled Severus. "Let me go!"

He was strong, but he wasn't that strong! He was also being restrained!

"Nope," Black said, popping the 'p,' "We're taking you to Moony."

"Yeah, he wants to see you before break," Potter added.

"What if I don't want to see him-?!"

Black rolled his eyes as if that was the stupidest question in the world. "Well you don't get much choice there, now, do ya, mate?"

Severus continued to struggle, but to no avail. Then he realised that his wand was missing.

"Where is my wand?!"

"Calm down, Wormy has it," Potter replied. Severus twisted himself so he could glance behind him at the little rat. There he was, following along, still eating, Severus' wand clutched firmly in his grasp.

"Give it back!"

"Not until you've talked to Remus!" Pettigrew squeaked, mouth full of some pastry he had snatched off the table earlier.

Severus struggled some more, but to no avail. Eventually he just slumped over into his captors' arms with a huge sigh, allowing them to drag him along. He did not like this. Not one bit.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: Just feel free to review your thoughts. Nothing new.**


	29. Happy Christmas

**Chapter 29 - Happy Christmas**

 **A/N: Wouldja look at that? Summertime again, and I am writing about the beloved winter celebration of Christmastime… is that ironic? Either way, awkward hospital visit, it's fun, now enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Nothing! Including Harry Potter! I'm fricken broke, guys :(**

 **XXX**

"Er, hi," Severus awkwardly blurted out after being dropped haphazardly in front of Lupin's bed.

The double doors to the hospital wing, a few beds away, slammed shut suddenly.

"Hello," Lupin replied, with a pleasant smile on his face. Severus sort of wanted to wipe it off, but he restrained himself, settling instead on toying with a loose thread on his robes.

"Er, so, uh, I was told you wanted me?"

"Yeah, I did."

It was almost painful how awkward he felt, and Lupin was still sitting in front of him like nothing was wrong, draped in crisp linen bed sheets, comfortably waiting for something.

"Do you plan to tell my why I was forcibly dragged here against my will, Lupin, or are we going to continue sitting here in silence like idiots?" Severus grated frustratedly. Lupin frowned.

"I thought I told you to call me 'Remus'?"

"You remember that?"

"Just barely," Lupin replied as if talking about the weather. "It's a bit foggy."

Another awkward silence followed the question.

Severus couldn't stand it, so he interrupted before he went insane. "You didn't answer my question."

"Oh, sorry. Uh, I planned to thank you for helping me in the kitchens last night," Lupin answered. Severus felt a gritty sort of satisfaction at Lupin's falter. Finally, he wasn't the one being awkward in this horrid situation.

"You're welcome," Severus forced.

"Thanks."

"Well, I'm just going to leave, then-"

"No! Don't!"

Severus spun around from the path towards the door he had previously been taking, a confused expression fixed on his features. "What?"

Lupin's hand was up, reaching out to him. "Please... don't go."

"Why?"

"I, I just, well," Lupin took a shuddering breath. "Nevermind. You can go."

Too late. Severus's curiosity was peaked. "No, what were you going to say?"

"I- nevermind. You wanted to go; now go, Snape."

Severus narrowed his eyes at Lupin, but not entirely in a threatening way. Merely, as if Lupin was a strangely difficult puzzle that he couldn't quite figure out. Perhaps because that was in the ballpark of what he was feeling. What was Lupin's problem? Why was he trembling? Why did he appear so… lost?

Instead of voicing any of those concerns, he decided to pluck yet another, lesser one from the onslaught of fluttering questions. "How come I'm supposed to call you 'Remus,' and you still get to call me 'Snape'?"

Lupin's eyes widened. "Did you want me to?"

Crap. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, that was certainly not something Severus had considered. Nor did he particularly want to.

"Bye, Lupin. Happy Christmas."

With that, Severus finally fled.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: Fun times, don't you think? Review what you thought of this chapter! Review where you think this thing is going! Review who you ship with who! I don't care, tell me something interesting! How are your cats doing today, my dear fellow? Lord, this is sad. I like conversing with you people! Tell me something you have to say! Maybe I'll PM you back with an interesting response!**


	30. Pies

**Chapter 30 - Pies**

 **A/N: IT'S BEEN SO LONG AAHHHHHH. I'm sorry for the long wait, guys! I had a bad case of writer's block for a bit there, but I think we're good again! I know it's a day late, but I had a problem with editing. It's all fixed now! So hello! This chapter is during Christmas break. You'll see what happens :)**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own a single character in this, since they are all from Harry Potter. Which I don't own. Sad.**

 **XXX**

"You have to whisk it a little harder, dear, then you'd be golden!"

"Agh! Sorry, sorry."

"You're doing great, Sev!"

"Thanks," Severus replied. He gripped the whisk so hard that his knuckles turned white and continued whisking the wet ingredients of the dough in a huge metal bowl. Baking wasn't so bad. It wasn't as similar to potion-brewing as cooking, but it was definitely manageable. Overall, Severus was glad that he got to help with this year's "Annual Evans' Christmas Baking Fest," as the family fondly called it.

Lily's mother was currently overseeing the making of four pies (pecan, apple, pumpkin, and mincemeat), and Severus and Lily were helping put them together. Lily's father was "manning the music," as he called it, which meant putting in cassettes with various Christmas songs on them, and blasting them as loudly as he could.

Sometime during the activities, the front door slammed, loudly. Petunia entered the kitchen with a disgruntled expression on her face. When she glanced into the kitchen, something flashed behind her eyes, before she scowled at them all.

"You guys started the Baking Fest without me!"

It was an accusation, not a question, and everyone knew it, which meant everyone in the family was looking somewhere other than Petunia. Meanwhile, Severus studied her in that moment.

He had never liked Petunia, but she had never looked so _sad_ , either. It almost made him… pity her. Which was strange, considering the fact that Severus had generally never pitied anyone except for himself and those who were truly pathetic.

In a flash, the expression was gone, and Petunia stomped up the stairs and slammed the door to her room.

Severus turned back to the other Evans. Mrs. Evans watched her daughter go with a sort of resolve; as if she had expected this, and couldn't do anything about it. Mr. Evans had turned back to the tape player, which was cheerfully playing a jazzy version of the muggle song "Jingle Bells." Lily looked like a kicked puppy.

Severus forced a sort of smile on his face. "C'mon, Lily, it'll be okay, right? We gotta get back to the fillings, the pumpkin crust will be out of the oven soon!"

Lily perked right up again. "You're right! Sorry, Sev, got lost in thought for a minute there!"

Just like that, the tension was broken and the festivities resumed.

 **XXX**

 **A/N: There we have it! I know, short chapter, sorry guys. Anyways, remember to review! I'll see you Friday!**


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